Zombie Balloon in Thanksgiving Parade Symbolized “Human Resilience in the Face of the Evil Dead”

By Bulletin Staff

The crowds lining New York’s streets cheered louder with each successive gigantic Thanksgiving Day parade balloon that floated by, pulled along by crews of wranglers tugging at guide wires.

From a common acorn to a legendary beagle, and from a dropkicking panda to a burger-slinging clown, the passing balloons delighted the New York natives and visitors to the Big Apple who braved the chilly temps to take part in this holiday tradition.

And then came the zombie float, a giant red balloon with a leering undead skull, taught flesh pulled tightly over the bone, lips pulled back over jagged teeth seemingly gnashing and ready to gnaw on the hapless audience below.

But far from shrieking in terror and fleeing for shelter from the giant living dead, the crowd shouted even louder, hooting and hollering as the airborne zombie floated past.

“It really is quite amazing, to see people cheering in delight at the sight of this representation of the undead,” said T.S. Lipinsky, a sociologist at New York’s Euler University who specializes in society’s relationship with the living dead.

“If you dropped an actual zombie into the middle of this kind of crowd, you’d see hysteria, people tramping each other to get away. But you make a cartoon out of the demonic dead and the crowd loves it,” Lipinsky added.

Parade organizers initially rejected the proposal from the New York-based Living Dead Rights Campaign to include a zombie balloon in the parade, according to sources with the parade organization.

But they were won over by the LDRC’s argument that including “Bub,” as the zombie balloon came to be known, would serve as a creative way to raise awareness about emergency preparedness and survival strategies against zombies.

“It’s the same argument that won over the organization when the fire safety people had the giant flaming Christmas tree balloon back in the 1930s, at a time when holiday tree fires were a leading cause of death in the city,” said the source.

This year’s zombie balloon was the brainchild of J.W. Weir, an avant-garde artist and adjunct professor with the Lutz Institute for Design in New York who is famous for his reinterpretations of classic style and fashion.

“Adding Bub to this year’s parade is more than just an attempt to bring new excitement and novelty to the parade, although it definitely was unexpected and attention-grabbing,” Weir said. “It’s an acknowledgement that the undead are a part of everyday life in this world. An unfortunate and deadly part, but a part nevertheless.”

Weir added that his vision was that the balloon would serve as a way for the audience to confront their fear of the undead in a controlled environment.

“We’re not trying to suggest that zombies are fun or harmless,” the artist said. “On the contrary, we’re trying to create a safe space where people can say, ‘Yes, zombies are scary, but I can still stand up to the undead, bash their skulls in, and prevent harm to myself and those around me.’ It’s really meant to be very empowering.”

Lipinsky agreed, saying that the zombie balloon served the same role as past villains that have been featured in the parade. “It’s like that giant green goblin that stole Christmas,” she said. “By including the undead in the event, we are really highlighting human resilience in the face of the evil dead, our ability to overcome challenges like monsters stealing our presents or ripping the flesh off our bodies.”

Following the parade, organizers celebrated the event’s blockbuster television ratings, with more than 28 million viewers tuning into the broadcast on NBC and its streaming service, Peacock. However, the organizing committee was mum on whether the inclusion of a zombie float helped to boost the viewership.

Meanwhile, New York’s police department reported an uptick of emergency calls related to zombies during the parade and the 24 hours following the conclusion of the event, but the department declined to speculate on whether the surge of undead reports was related to the parade.

“We always see more calls about zombies during the holidays,” a spokesperson said. “People get a little more tipsy than usual, or they get a tryptophan high from too much turkey, and the next thing you know, they’re seeing the undead everywhere.”

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