Tassel Rassle
H-E-B and Maren Morris add pomp to pandemic with virtual graduation for Texas seniors

Update: On May 18, H-E-B confirmed that Maren Morris will be Wednesday's special musical guest.
Once again proving that everything really is bigger and better in the Lone Star State, H-E-B will host a "Texas-sized" virtual graduation for the state's high school and college seniors.
On Wednesday, May 20, the beloved Texas grocer will host H-E-B Live on YouTube, a special celebration for the students whose graduations have been canceled due to COVID-19. The program kicks off at 7 pm and includes messages from famous Texans and features a musical performance from a surprise artist.
The program also serves as a sweepstakes for new grads to take part in #HEBGraduation, a social media contest to win one of 200 H-E-B gift cards worth $500 each.
To enter, a high school or college senior should share a photo or video on Twitter or Instagram about how they are celebrating graduation along with the hashtag #HEBGraduation. H-E-B will then feature some of entries during the H-E-B Live graduation celebration and also enter those who use the hashtag in the contest to win a gift card.
The sweepstakes will end on Thursday, May 21, at 11:59 pm. H-E-B Live will be streamed on YouTube beginning at 7 pm on May 20.
The graduation ceremony is just the latest way the grocery giant has engaged with customers throughout the current global health crisis. Over the past two months, H-E-B has found innovative ways to engage consumers, such as offering two-hour grocery delivery through the Favor app, a delivery service it purchased in 2018.
Its almost prescient reaction to the crisis was even the subject of a Texas Monthly article that had some calling for H-E-B to run the government. (Bummer the Fort Worth area has so few H-E-B stores.)
It hasn't been a seamless experience, however. In early May, H-E-B was named among other supermarkets chains in a lawsuit alleging price gouging during the pandemic. In a statement to USA Today, H-E-B dismissed the lawsuit as "meritless."