/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/3856633/136322665.0.jpg)
At the risk of being blunt, how stupid are you?
The Cleveland Browns recently halted a promotional giveaway in which fans arriving at the stadium would be given white hanky-type products (often referred to as towels in a rip-off of the trademarked Terrible Towel of the Pittsburgh Steelers) to wave during the Browns vs. Steelers game in Week 12.
It's hard to find people who don't draw a direct correlation to waving of anything in white in the air and the universal sign of surrender - waving anything in white in the air.
The fact that promotion was even given the green light shows a shocking level of ineptitude and ignorance that fails to meet the standards of any professional team - even ones in Cleveland.
It's not exactly rare for opposing teams to drum up interest in their franchise by offering towel-like objects in the team's colors when Pittsburgh comes to town. I witnessed the Teal Towel giveaway in Jacksonville in 2006, for example. I think the mayor even declared it "Beat The Steelers Day" or something.
But at least the "towels" were in the team's dominant color. The Browns could use, ya know, Brown. Or orange, the color of their helmets.
We may never hear a logical explanation as to why the promotion was approved in the first place (expect something hilarious like "orange hankies cost too much"), but don't ever expect to see a team one game from its sixth consecutive losing season order white hankies en masse to give away to its fan base.
Because that would be downright nutty.