Seattle Sounders fans still smarting from Toronto FC’s victory on Saturday might have had to go through the five stages of grief all over again this morning if they tried to check the news: For a couple hours, The Seattle Times displayed a pre-scheduled “victory” advertisement for the Sounders on their website.
These type of ads are often planned ahead of time, but are meant to be cancelled in the event of a loss. Apparently, the Times forgot to pull the ad, and so articles on the site were surrounded by bright green banners calling the Sounders “Champions” and advertising a parade and rally in downtown Seattle.