Although H&R Block reportedly plans to sit out the upcoming Super Bowl rather than follow up last season’s singing-doll spot from Campbell Mithun, the accounting and auditing firm may want to reconsider in time for the Big Game: On Tuesday night, a powerful advertising tool even stronger than Willie Nelson rose from the ashes of a geeky-chic game show.

After hauling in more than $2.5 million on Jeopardy, Ken Jennings’ 74-game winning streak ended on a simple question: “What is H&R Block?”

That was the Final Jeopardy question to the answer, “Most of this firm’s 70,000 seasonal white-collar employees work only four months a year.” (Jennings guessed, “What is FedEx?”)

H&R Block immediately contacted Jennings and offered him free tax-prep services for life—now that he’s in a new tax bracket, he’ll need extra help come April. Since he may be haunted by those two words—H&R Block!—for the rest of his life, he may as well make a few more bucks at the company’s expense.

—Posted by Randi Schmelzer

Photo: Splash News