phony bacon shortage and the Superbowl

US pig producers have quashed fears of a bacon shortage in the country.

Mild online panic spread after US Department of Agriculture data showed reserves of frozen pork belly - from which bacon is cut - were at a record low....
Last year, there was an avocado shortage after the fruit went from being consumed mostly as a dip served with tortillas to being ubiquitously eaten in everything from wraps to desserts. A heat wave and drought in California, where many US avocados are grown, caused panic that prices would spike and the green treat would become a luxury item.
Stories about that shortage - much like this one about bacon - occurred very near to the Super Bowl, the final in American football. Super Bowl Sunday - perhaps coincidentally - is a time when many Americans host parties that feature dishes that use both bacon and avocados.

Goosing the American consumer? Again?