The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade had NFTs.
Nothing like cryptographic tokens to reign in the holiday season.
A time-honored family tradition with my family has always been watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, in our pajamas, every Thanksgiving morning. As a child, I was always enchanted by the Radio City Rockettes as the famed dancers effortlessly glided across the main performance area finishing with a flawless kick line. And, as marching band alumni, living vicariously through the high school marching band members rushing to get into position for a few minutes of screen time. One thing I had not expected to see this year: NFTs.
Let’s Talk Crypto-Turkey
NFT stands for non-fungible tokens — Non-fungible tokens or NFTs are cryptographic assets on blockchain with unique identification codes and metadata that distinguish them from each other. NFTs can represent a variety of real-world items like artwork and real estate as well as someone’s identity, property rights, and more. Despite considering myself pretty tech savvy, it took a while to grasp even the basics of what an NFT was and how it could be used.
A Reddit user, who goes by the username, @grandpaisland says in r/explainitlikeimfive:
“[An NFT] is essentially buying a ‘certificate of authenticity’ for a thing, usually a piece of digital media. But it doesn’t actually get you The Thing as anyone can also save and have the thing. You’re the only one who has that ‘certificate’ (not actually a certificate) but since everyone can still copy The Thing itself and have it at the same level of quality it’s pretty useless. Manufactured exclusivity.”
Now, it might seem as though the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade doesn’t exactly scream crypto, ten tokens in total are being auctioned off to celebrate the event’s 95th anniversary through the Sweet NFT platform with all proceeds benefitting the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Each NFT is modeled after an iconic parade balloon that has appeared at some point during the history of the famous parade including “The Toy Soldier” which is rendered entirely in black and white which is reflective of the 1920s and “The Spaceman” balloon which infamously crashed into a lamppost, bursting his ray gun and causing his left arm to fall off.
As of closing, the most popular NFT, “The Happy Dragon,” lead the pack with a winning bid of $310,000 while the least popular NFT was the “Fireman” at a ‘measly’ $16,500. On top of these rare tokens, Macy’s offered 9,500 free NFTs which were distributed on November 25th, 2021 at 10 AM ET.
Ultimately, if you’re in the market for an affordable, rare Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade NFT, you’re likely out of luck.
Macy’s joins a long list of brands embracing NFTs in Marketing
In 2020, NFTs hit an all-time high as the market grew to an astounding $250 million value. Dozens of brands began taking interest in the success of cryptographic tokens creating crypto-art of their own to enter the digital sphere. Most notably, Taco Bell released their NFTaco Bells — only selling 5 versions of the digital artwork on the platform Rarible with all proceeds benefitting the Taco Bell Foundation. Additionally, brands like Atari, Bratz Dolls, Charmin (yes, the toilet tissue), and Nike have also released rare, limited edition NFTs.
Although the industry of technology remains mystifying to many, it’s become a key point of investment for brands across the world. Investing in tech means investing in the future, something in which each brand is fighting for its place. NFTs fill the accessible niche that non-tech brands are searching for to compete with global tech giants like Apple, Microsoft, and Google.
Hype or high dollar idea?
We can’t help but be skeptical when it comes to new inventions. According to Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen, about 95% of new products fail. We are used to feeling and witnessing failure daily and I believe many would say that failure is one of our most defining qualities as human beings.
NFTs hinge on a love/hate relationship with the people of the internet. Staunch supporters believe that, much like the skepticism that revolved around the creation of the World Wide Web, NFTs will become the revolutionary invention that our society needs. On the other hand, NFT rejecters see the technology as nothing more than a fad — maybe even laughable. Predicting the future of NFTs would take nothing short of arcane magic. However, as cryptographic tokens begin to reach mainstream media, I can’t help but wonder where they’ll be 10 years from now. If they’re good enough for long-held holiday traditions, are they good enough for me as a consumer? Is a large parade a good gauge of reliability when investing in blockchain technology?
For now, we wait and see.
Thank you so much for stopping by! I would love to hear your opinions on crypto and blockchain technology. Are NFTs just a fad or are they made to last? Let me know in the comment section :)
