There are some weird laws out there, no doubt. In North Carolina, singing off-key is illegal, and swearing in front of a corpse is illegal in Georgia. But in anticipation of Sunday’s NFL game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers, the Seattle suburb of Bainbridge Island has created their own bizarre law: they’ve temporarily banned the possession and/or consumption of cheese, since the Packers are known colloquially as the “Cheeseheads”. Sunday’s NFL game is a huge deal, and winning would give the Seahawks the chance to go back to the Super Bowl and maybe even net another trophy for the second year in a row. These are definitely some high stakes, but banning cheese in anticipation of the game? That sounds silly.
Lucky for Seattle cheese lovers, this ban only applies to employees at city hall for today, but city manager Douglas Schulze is prepared for anybody who plans on smuggling in cheese. He’ll be arriving early with a cheese grater, so that if he finds any cheese products, he’ll dispose of them. While this ban only impacts a small number of the town’s residents, it caught the attention of Green Bay fans all the way in Wisconsin, who declared it “insane”, “ridiculous” and “demonic”. Many Packers fans view this as a challenge for their team to really dominate the Seahawks. Some even proposed counter-bans, including a boycott of Seattle-based Starbucks. One Milwaukee radio station started their own campaign “Say No To Seattle”, banning all songs from Seattle-based bands, including Nirvana, Heart and Pearl Jam.
However, preparations for the upcoming game aren’t all about bans. In the Bainbridge Island executive order, Schulze also calls for a “Blue Friday” celebration for all local employees, who are being encouraged to wear Seahawks logo gear, team colors and jerseys. But in case anybody gets carried away, Schulze made it clear that no cheese, or even cheese products, shall be tolerated.