The Macy's Parade Is One Big Advertisement

        Pierre Bordieu states that "the farther a paper extends its circulation, the more it favors such topics that interest 'everybody' and don't raise problems. The object - news - is constructed in accordance with the perceptual categories of the receiver" (Bordieu 254). This can apply to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which I watched a couple of weeks ago on Thanksgiving for the first time in years. When I watched the parade, I was appalled by the blatant capitalism throughout it. I hadn't noticed this in previous years, as I hadn't thought as critically in the past. The parade, which reaches 22.3 million viewers, makes no political stance or sends important messages; instead, it presents advertisements in the form of floats, balloons, and performances. These meaningless, capitalistic advertisements are extremely elaborate. From a balloon featuring the Pillsbury Doughboy to a float advertising Build-A-Bear workshop, the pageantry and entertainment factor just barely mask the fact that the parade is just one big advertisement. These floats and balloons are advertisements as well as entertainment, and they are part of a system of "homogenization, which smooths over things, brings them into line, and depoliticizes them" (Bordieu 254). This also falls in line with Chomsky's assertion that "advertisers will want, more generally, to avoid programs with serious complexities and disturbing controversies that interfere with the 'buying mood'" (Chomsky 213). If the Macy's parade was a controversial event, it would never get the number of sponsors and advertisers that it gets today, as it is not a politically charged event.

        Rather than reporting on real news, the newscasters report on trivial things, such as which float is coming down the street in New York City, and interview stars of new television shows on the NBC network, advertising further programming on their channel. The newscasters themselves are examples of Bordieu's criticism on the celebritization of news anchors, as they "are treated with a respect that is often quite out of proportion with their intellectual merits" (Bordieu 254). Americans know Matt Lauer and Al Roker, and look forward to seeing them on their television screen. We as a society idolize news anchors such as Lauer and Roker, and during the parade, we trust them to host with integrity and without politicization. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade has truly changed in my mind from a purely fun event to one that involves blatant advertisement and idolization of news anchors.