With two daughters, the Super Bowl isn’t the biggest attraction at our house, but my husband and I are both football fans (GO RAIDERS!) so each year we go to a friend’s house for a big Super Bowl party. I wasn’t even thinking about the day as part of my Buy Union! Challenge, but I did (of course) bring over union-made snacks and beer to share with everyone:  A large bag of Tostitos Artisan Recipes Fire-Roasted Chipotle Tortilla Chips (if you haven’t tried these, you should, they’re really good), a family-sized bottle of Pace Chunky Salsa, and a 12-pack of Bud Light.

It’s funny, but the Super Bowl is really a de facto American holiday. On no other day except for Thanksgiving is more food consumed than Super Bowl Sunday… and a lot of those chips, dips, sodas, beers, hot dogs and chicken wings that are iconic for the day are union-made.   I’m sure that’s something those Tea Partiers don’t even know, or acknowledge, while they enjoy their nachos made from union-made Pace salsa, Velveeta cheese and Tostitos chips and downing a Miller Light.

Despite all the complaints from political Conservatives, unions are as American as apple pie and, well… the Super Bowl. Watching a fantastic game between two teams playing their hearts out, I kept in mind that every member of the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers belongs to a union.   And even though the game was broadcast on notoriously negatively-biased Fox, I had to admit, the game looked phenomenal… and all those cameramen and sound people who made it all happen and produced such amazing quality—they’re all union members too.

They say that last Sunday 111 million Americans watched Super Bowl LXV making it the most watched American program in U.S. history. Me? I don’t believe it. There’s no way the other 200 million American’s weren’t watching the Super Bowl. No way. Anyhow all those viewers watching the Super Bowl also saw 44 commercials — commercials that have become almost as much a part of the tradition as the game itself. Well, of those 44 commercials 24 of them were for American-made, union-made goods and services and I’m sure most of those exciting, funny, thoughtful, beautiful and ridiculous commercials were shot using union crews — because advertising agencies turn to union crew when they need the highest quality.

So, even if you haven’t jumped on board yet, I’m just here to let you know that last Sunday, you probably took the Buy Union! Challenge yourself without even realizing it and succeeded. In the future, keep in mind the next time you hear someone on Fox News sounding off about how unions are destroying America take a deep breath and remember that so many (if not most) of the things that are quintessentially American are union-made and/or union-supported. Those things that bring us together like the Super Bowl, the great American movies, and toasting with a Bud Light are all made possible through the efforts and input of union hands. Remember that. I do.