[sokoloff]

The former sentence (assuming true) communicates something more than the latter.

Contrast: "We're going to get some snow" versus "The biggest 2-day snowstorm in recorded history is bearing down on us!"

"A man died" versus "World's oldest man died."

Yes, a lot of times superlatives are used for the purposes of pure link-bait or advertising hooks, but that doesn't mean we should eliminate their usage entirely.