The Goodyear Blimp

Why it works

An airship built for a different dream became one of advertising's most recognisable media. Goodyear's Pilgrim first flew over Akron on 3 June 1925 with no logo on it: its champion, executive Paul Litchfield, imagined families owning small 'air yachts' the way they owned motorboats. Government control of helium stymied that plan, so Goodyear put the craft to work as publicity instead. By 1927 the Pilgrim carried the Goodyear name, each December it flew as the 'Santa Claus Express', and in 1930 the company added a lit neon sign so it could advertise after dark. A growing fleet of billboard blimps toured American cities, and in 1955 a Goodyear airship carried the equipment for a live NBC broadcast of the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl, starting a second career as an aerial camera that later covered the first Super Bowl in 1967. It is studied as media that earns its airtime: for seven decades the brand has floated into the broadcast by supplying the shot.