Brands and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Brands aren’t a new thing for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Since the first giant balloon appeared in the 1927 parade (it was Felix the Cat), companies saw the parade as an opportunity to get their brands in front of large audiences right before the busy holiday shopping season.

In the early days, balloons and floats featured well-known entertainment characters like Mickey Mouse and Superman, but as time went by, the parade saw an expansion in the types of brands that wanted to get in on the action.

Considering that just creating a balloon today can cost up to $100,000, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is not a small investment. In fact, it’s unlikely to bring massive sales to a brand (take the 1999 Pets.com balloon as an example). However, as time has passed, we’re seeing more brand participation—and not just from entertainment brands.

Which brands have appeared through balloons or floats at the annual parade in New York City? We all remember the entertainment brands like Spongebob Squarepants, Barney, and Snoopy. Movie, television, and book brands are traditions, and those are the balloons and floats that children eagerly anticipate each year.

But what about the non-entertainment brands? What about the ones you wouldn’t expect to invest in a balloon or float at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade? Some of these less expected brands have been present at the parade for decades! Keep reading to find out what they are.

2015 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Brand Balloons

Non-entertainment brands (for the purpose of this article, that means brands that aren’t primarily known for nor started as television, movies, or books) that will be featured as balloons include:

Angry Birds: Remember, this started as a simple mobile app game, debuted in 2015
Hello Kitty: Debuted in the parade in 1976
Pillsbury Doughboy: Debuted in the parade in 2009
Ronald McDonald: Debuted in the parade in 1987
Skylanders’ Eruptor: Skylanders is a video game, debuted in 2013
The Elf on the Shelf: Debuted in 2012

All of the other balloons in this year’s parade (not including the Macy’s stars that open and close the parade or Macy’s balloon of Virginia from its story, “Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus”) are entertainment brands from television, movies, or books.

2015 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Brand Floats

Non-entertainment brands (for the purposes of this article, that means brands that aren’t primarily known for nor started as television, movies, or books) that will be featured as floats include :

Avocados from Mexico: Debuted in 2015
Build-A-Bear Workshop: Debuted in 2002
Cirque du Soleil: Debuted in 2013
Cracker Jack: Debuted in 2014
Delta Airlines: Debuted in 2008
Discover: Debuted in 2015
Domino Sugar: Debuted in 2012
Ford: Debuted in 2015
Gibson Guitar Company: Debuted in 2012
GoldieBlox: Debuted in 2014
Hallmark Channel: Debuted in 2015
Homewood Suites by Hilton: Debuted in 2010
KFC: Debuted in 2015
Lindt: Debuted in 2013
NY Daily News: Debuted in 1981
Ocean Spray: Debuted in 2008
Pirate’s Booty: Debuted in 2014
Royal Caribbean International: Debuted in 2004
Sino-American Friendship Association: Debuted in 2014
Spirit of American Productions Big City Cheer: Debuted in 2015
South Dakota Department of Tourism: Debuted in 2010

Brands are definitely investing more heavily in floats than balloons with 86% of the floats in this year’s parade featuring brands (only four of the floats are not branded—the NYFD Pipes & Drums, Tom Turkey, Santaland Express, and Santa’s Sleigh). That means there are 25 branded floats in the 2015 parade and only 4 of them are for entertainment brands.

Based on these statistics, entertainment brands clearly prefer balloons while non-entertainment brands prefer floats.

Brands at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in History

There is a long list of non-entertainment brands (for the purposes of this article, that means brands that aren’t primarily known for nor started as television, movies, or books) that have had balloons or floats in the parade over the years. Here is a list of the brands I could find with the years they debuted in the parade. See which ones you can remember appearing in past parades.

Branded Balloons (All Sizes)

Smokey the Bear: Debuted in 1966
Hello Kitty: Debuted in 1976
Sonic the Hedgehog: The first video game character in the parade, debuted in 1993
Baby Shamu: From SeaWorld, debuted in 1986
Ronald McDonald: Debuted in 1987
Snuggle Bear: Debuted in 1987
Pets.com: Debuted in 1999
Hunny Nut Cheerios: Debuted in 1999
M&Ms: Debuted in 2004
Weebles: Debuted in 2004
Mr. Potato Head: Debuted in 2005
Energizer Bunny: Debuted in 2006
Pikachu from Pokemon: Debuted in 2006
Pillsbury Dough Boy: Debuted in 2009
Kool-Aid: Debuted in 2010
Aflac Duck: Debuted in 2011
Elf on the Shelf: Debuted in 2012
Angry Birds: Debuted in 2015

Branded Floats

NY Daily News: Debuted in 1981
Animal Planet: Debuted in 1996
Universal Orlando Resort: Debuted in 1996
Delta Airlines: Debuted in 2000
The Hershey Company: Debuted in 2002
LEGO: Debuted in 2002
Build-A-Bear Workshop: Debuted in 2002
Hess Corporation: Debuted in 2003
Ecko Unltd.: Debuted in 2003
Amica Mutual Insurance: Debuted in 2003
United States Postal Service: Debuted in 2003
Georgia Pacific: Debuted in 2004
Fisher-Price: Debuted in 2004
Royal Caribbean International: Debuted in 2004
Barbie: Debuted in 2004
NFL Classic: Debuted in 2004
Walt Disney World: Debuted in 2005
History Channel: Debuted in 2006
Ocean Spray: Debuted in 2008
Jimmy Dean: Debuted in 2008
Hamburger Helper: Debuted in 2009
South Dakota Department of Tourism: Debuted in 2010
Homewood Suites by Hilton: Debuted in 2010
Morton Salt: Debuted in 2010
Office Max: Debuted in 2010
Planters: Debuted in 2011
Gibson Guitar Company: Debuted in 2012
Goldfish: Debuted in 2012
Domino Sugar: Debuted in 2012
Drake’s: Debuted in 2013
Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines: Debuted in 2013
Sea World: Debuted in 2013
Cirque du Soleil: Debuted in 2013
Lindt: Debuted in 2013
Cracker Jack: Debuted in 2014
GoldieBlox: Debuted in 2014
Sino-American Friendship Association: Debuted in 2014
Pirate’s Booty: Debuted in 2014
Ford: Debuted in 2015
Spirit of American Productions Big City Cheer: Debuted in 2015
Avocados from Mexico: Debuted in 2015
KFC: Debuted in 2015
Discover: Debuted in 2015
Hallmark Channel: Debuted in 2015

Do any of these brands surprise you? Did I miss any brands or get anything wrong? Let me know in the comments and I’ll update!

Susan Gunelius

Susan Gunelius is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc. and Founder & Editor in Chief of an award-winning blog, WomenOnBusiness.com. She is a 25-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored 10 books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing.