MOGADORE, Ohio — The iconic Goodyear airships are taking a victory lap over the skies of an Ohio city this week.
The Akron-based tire company is celebrating the 100th anniversary of Pilgrim, its first blimp to take flight just outside of the city on June 3, 1925. The airships took to the skies Tuesday, and will again Wednesday and Thursday, flying over land that once housed the company's original hangar.
Jim Crone, who manages airship maintenance, explained why the company chose this swath of land in 1917. "It was secluded. It was away from most of other parts of the city, and it allowed them to build airships here. It's a lot of property."
Goodyear started experimenting with vessels that would be lighter than aircraft in the early 1900s, and the dirigibles since became a lasting and iconic symbol of the corporate brand. For some, it evokes nostalgia, while for others it offers a glimpse into a larger-than-life part of advertisement history.
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The Goodyear Blimp is prepared for takeoff Feb. 12 in New Smyrna Beach, Fla.
Locally and around the country, Crone said the brand has a "cult following."
"People love the airships," he said. In the Akron area specifically, "they identify with Goodyear and identify with the airships. They've become part of this community."
One of those fans, Madison Hayberg, brought her 2-year-old son Levi with her to see the airships Tuesday.
"I think it's just a cool thing that a lot of us locally probably take for granted because we see it all the time," she said. "I wanted to bring him because when I was younger I remember they retired one of them so my mom pulled us all from school, brought us and we got to see them all, so I thought it would be cool for him to do something similar."
Here is a by-the-numbers look at Goodyear airships over time:
The Goodyear dirigible Puritan flies over New York's Battery Park on Sept. 27, 1928.
1910
Goodyear establishes an Aeronautics Department to build lighter-than-air aircrafts, and by 1912 the company built its first balloon.
In 1930, the "Defender" blimp became the first airship in the world to carry a lit neon sign so the company's name could be seen after dark.
Goodyear began making airships for the U.S. Navy in 1917, and its first blimp — the first commercial non-rigid airship flown using helium — launched years later, becoming a marketing tool.
From 1942 to 1944, the company built more than 150 airships for the Navy to serve in World War II, flying patrol over warships on the seas with zero reported loss of ships when a blimp was on watch.
New Year's Day 1955
The Goodyear Blimp has been a regular at major sporting events since flying above the 1955 Rose Bowl. A few years later, it became a service vehicle for television coverage while simultaneously functioning as a highly visible advertising platform.
Since that time, blimps have undergone wholesale changes and improved dramatically: steering technology; safety innovations; high-definition cameras; aerial views captured with specialized systems that compensate for movement during filming, resulting in stable and smooth footage footage; and much quieter rides thanks to relocated engines and propellers.
Three Goodyear blimps, the then-newly commissioned Stars and Stripes, foreground, the decommissioned Stars and Stripes, middle, and the Spirit of Akron are moored at the Goodyear blimp base June 18, 1998, in Suffield, Ohio.Â
4 blimps
There currently are four Goodyear Blimps — the three in the U.S. and one in Friedrichshafen, Germany.
Today's Goodyear Blimps are semi-rigid dirigibles, meaning they have an internal frame as compared to previous eras of blimps that could be fully deflated. In 2014, Goodyear transitioned to the New Technology semi-rigid airship platform designed to allow for improved maneuverability and speed.
A Goodyear blimp flies over Michigan Stadium in the first half of an NCAA college football game between Michigan and Southern California on Sept. 21 in Ann Arbor, Mich..
246 feet
The Goodyear Blimps are 246 feet long, which would cover about 80% of a football field. They are 58 feet tall and each holds three Olympic-sized swimming pools' worth of helium.
Goodyear gets helium for its blimps from multiple sources. Because helium is a finite resource, the company purifies its helium every six to eight weeks to extend its life.
The blimp travels more than 100 days per year, with trips ranging anywhere from three days to three weeks. A crew of nearly 20 people travel with each airship whenever it is touring.
Today's Goodyear Blimps fly between 1,000 and 1,500 feet in the air and travel at speeds up to 73 miles per hour.
The pilot of the Goodyear blimp Mayflower follows signals by the ground crew chief when taking off and landing May 24, 1972, from Miami's Watson Island.
10 blimp pilots
There are fewer blimp pilots in the world than astronauts, according to Goodyear, which has 10 full-time pilots.
To serve in that job, you must have a commercial pilot license followed by approximately 250 hours of training to earn an additional lighter-than-air airship rating from the Federal Aviation Administration.
The new Goodyear blimp Stars and Stripes sits in a hangar at the Goodyear blimp base June 18, 1998, in Suffield, Ohio. Several thousand spectators viewed the ceremonies. Also on hand were two other blimps, the soon-to-be decommissioned older Stars and Stripes, right and the Spirit of Akron, left.
2,500 and 500,000
The blimps covered more than 2,500 events and took more than 500,000 passengers for rides, according to Goodyear.
Former President Ronald Reagan might be the most famous passenger, but it was rapper Ice Cube who raised the blimp's street cred when he included a line about it in his 1992 song titled "It Was A Good Day."
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Shipkowski reported from Toms River, New Jersey.
13 famous marketing campaigns from the last 100 years
13 famous marketing campaigns from the last 100 years
The first television commercial to air in the world was in 1941 for the Bulova Watch Company, which cost between $4 and $9 to make (less than 4200 in today's dollars). The costs of advertising are drastically different today: Chanel spent in 2004.
compiled this list of some of the most iconic marketing campaigns of the last 100 years, covering a range of successful ads—from Coca-Cola’s enduring Christmas images to a viral body wash campaign.
Many of us can recall a time when an advertisement convinced us to buy a product or give something new a try. And who hasn’t mouthed along to the words of that familiar jingle you can’t seem to get out of your head? Millions of people tune in each year to watch the Super Bowl just for the commercials alone. Meanwhile, some of the brands and influencers active on social media employ the help of web browsing history and algorithms to curate which ads appear in an individual’s feed. New strategies come and go, but creative marketing campaigns as a whole are most certainly here to stay.
Whether it’s Absolut Vodka proving its brand could stand the test of time, or Spotify’s approach to working with its users to share music data, keep reading to find out who had some of the most popular marketing campaigns to date.
Santa Claus’ signature look
- Company: Coca-Cola
- Year premiered: 1931
The jovial, grinning image of Santa Claus has become part of our cultural fabric. But he wasn't always portrayed that way.
In 1931, Coca-Cola tapped reputable illustrator Haddon Sundblom to create advertising images of Santa Claus as a plump, jolly gentleman wearing Coca-Cola’s signature color red. The soft drink wanted to be affiliated with the holidays, and Santa seemed like a viable choice. As the campaign evolved over the years, images of a cheerful Santa were woven into Coca-Cola’s advertisements—and became the dominant likeness for the iconic character.
‘Please don’t squeeze the Charmin’
- Company: Charmin
- Year premiered: 1969
“Please don’t squeeze the Charmin†is the memorable line created by John Chervokas, who worked as a copywriter for ad agency Benton & Bowles in 1964. The words spoken by the iconic character Mr. George Whipple (portrayed by Dick Wilson) catapulted the Procter & Gamble toilet paper brand to the top.
Mr. Whipple was a fictional supermarket manager who scolded his customers for squeezing the Charmin—only to sneakily squeeze the irresistibly soft tissue paper himself. Mr. Whipple went on to become a recognizable spokesperson for the long-running commercials, which were recognized by .
Absolut genius
- Company: Absolut Vodka
- Year premiered: 1980
Premium Swedish vodka brand Absolut Vodka launched a marketing initiative in 1980 that turned into the in advertising history. At the time, Absolut wasn’t able to keep up with other brands that had larger distribution, so Absolut came up with the idea of developing 1,500 print ads showcasing the uniqueness of its bottles. The brand happened to be a trendy liquor of choice in New York City’s popular nightclub Studio 54, where the bottle caught the eye of Andy Warhol, who frequented the venue.
and was later commissioned to create designs for the brand’s print ads.
‘Got Milk?’
- Company: California Milk Processor Board
- Year premiered: 1993
In 1993, San Francisco-based advertising agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners created the for the California Milk Processor Board. The ads featured people in various scenarios—whether it was someone preparing cereal, only to realize they didn’t have milk in the fridge, or someone about to have a chocolate chip cookie, realizing there was no milk to wash it down with.
The “Got Milk?†slogan was licensed in 1995 to national dairy boards for them to use in celebrity print ads. Several celebrities have since participated in the campaign over the years, proudly flaunting their milk mustaches. The national campaign was managed by the Milk Processor Education Program and, in 2014, the catchphrase, adopting “Milk Life†as the new tagline instead.
The California Milk Processor Board who created and owns the trademark, however, still uses the slogan. , including Northwestern University’s Out of the Box Award.
The ‘Whassup’ campaign
- Company: Budweiser
- Year premiered: 1999
Budweiser’s “Whassup†ad first debuted in December 1999 during “Monday Night Football.â€
The beer commercials were derived from a short film written and directed by Charles Stone III titled “True,†which is about how he and his friends greeted each other in their own unique way. The short film caught the attention of an executive at Doyle Dane Bernbach, a Chicago-based advertising agency.
The “Whassup†ads aired from 1999 through 2002 and in 2000 alone, Anheuser-Busch . The commercials received a slew of accolades, including the .
‘Get a Mac’
- Company: Apple
- Year premiered: 2006
In 2005, Apple saw a decrease in its Mac laptop sales and sought out a way to boost business growth. Co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs wanted an advertising campaign that would highlight the difference between Macs and PCs without coming across as a super aggressor to other brands while simultaneously having Apple’s Macs stand out. He also didn’t want the ads to be very comical.
The “Get a Mac†ads debuted in May 2006, starring actor Justin Long as a younger version of Steve Jobs, or the “cool Mac guy,†and John Hodgman as the “PC guy,†or rather, Bill Gates. The “Get a Mac†commercials aired until October 2009; that year, Adweek named the series of ads one of the .
The most interesting man in the world
- Company: Dos Equis
- Year premiered: 2006
We all know the line: “I don't always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis.†The Dos Equis commercials starring the ever so dapper Jonathan Goldsmith began appearing in the U.S. in 2006. A plethora of memes quickly followed—and remain widely used today. Dos Equis’ ad campaign led the beer company’s sales to in 2009, even as other beer imports lagged with the meteoric rise of craft beers. Despite being widely popular, however, the commercials ended in 2018.
‘The man your man could smell like’
- Company: Old Spice
- Year premiered: 2010
After catering to a more mature audience for years, Procter & Gamble's Old Spice brand sought to appeal to a younger demographic.
A 2010 advertising campaign spearheaded by would help to reinvent the company's image. The launched online during Super Bowl weekend and was televised shortly afterward. Following market research and learning that more women purchased body wash than men, Wieden+Kennedy’s vision was to start a discussion between couples about body wash and in a comical way to convince women to stop purchasing “girly scented†products for men. The campaign was a mega-success as it aired during a targeted time for a major event where couples would be watching together.
‘The Force’ transforms the Super Bowl
- Company: Volkswagen
- Year premiered: 2011
Volkswagen's “The Force†has remained one of the most-watched Super Bowl ads of all time and is considered by many a during the major event.
The commercial for the Volkswagen Passat, created by advertising executives at Deutsch LA, features a young boy in full Darth Vader garb attempting to do various things such as wake up a dog, start a washing machine, and wake up a baby doll using the Force. After his unsuccessful attempts, the boy discovers he can get the car to start, but it’s actually his dad who does it via remote control.
Volkswagen worked with Deutsch LA and MediaCom and they decided to prerelease the 60-second commercial four days before the Super Bowl, a move that wasn’t usually done in the advertising space. Viewership of the 60-second advert went into the millions shortly after the commercial made it to YouTube. On the actual day of the Super Bowl, 30 seconds of the ad were aired.
The ice bucket challenge
Company: N/A
Year premiered: 2014
The wildly successful ice bucket challenge was reportedly started by , who at the time had been battling , also known as motor neuron disease.
The social media challenge involved a person pouring a bucket of ice over their head for the purpose of creating awareness of ALS and garnering donations for research, and then tagging others online to do the same. Quinn died in 2020, but his visionary .
‘Wrapped’ is a social media hit
- Company: Spotify
- Year premiered: 2015
Spotify first launched its annual music campaign in 2015 with the title “Your Year in Music.†In 2017, the campaign was renamed “Wrapped.†Each December, Spotify sends its users the top artists they listened to throughout the year as customized data cards in a shareable format. This allows users to share their data cards on their social media channels. In December 2021, the hashtag #SpotifyWrapped spent a few days trending on Twitter, with Spotify benefiting from the additional marketing done by its users as well as the data the company was able to collect.
#ShowUs redefines beauty standards
- Company: Dove
- Year premiered: 2019
Dove sought to redefine how women are represented with the Project #ShowUs. In partnership with Getty Images, the largest international stock photo distributor, and Girlgaze, a digital photography network, Dove created a massive photo library demonstrating more inclusive images of beauty.
Dove formed a first-of-its-kind partnership with Hearst, focusing on publications geared toward women. The publications were given access to the images with a challenge to integrate them into relatable, engaging content. has more than 11,000 images created by women, women-identifying, and nonbinary individuals.
This story originally appeared on and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.
