… lights out … guerrilla radio … turn that shit up …
For years Disneyland had their electric light parade, and families came from lands far and wide to watch it rattle down Main St. About three years ago, they stopped doing it and there was crying ankle-biters and adults alike moaning about the end of the world. I don’t know why it came to an end, but it didn’t seem like too big an issue.
About four months ago, the state of California was the state of disarray. Not only were we being told that we were in for one of the hottest summers since Moses wandered the desert, but a bunch of friendly capitalists had decided to put the squeeze on the ‘quake state by charging some seriously marked up prices for electricity. To make it even worse still, the voltage suppliers had numerous power plants offline for “scheduled maintenance” — an industry name for “price gouging mechanism”.
About a month ago, I was trolling through the 400-odd channels that DirecTV inject into my home when the most surprising ad of the year came on. In what can only be described as a mind-boggling move, our friends at Mouse Inc. were shouting from the rooftops that the electrical light parade was making a return. And no-one even seemed to go, “huh?” and scratch their heads.
Why, when everyone in the state is being asked to trim their electrical usage, is one of the world’s most recognizable brands sucking up a bunch of volts to light up an array of vehicles so that people can go “oooh” and “aaah” as they drive by? Couldn’t the same thing be done by shuttling all those people out to the nearby I-5 and lining them up on an overpass to watch the Orange County commuters battle their way home?
I don’t care where they’re getting their power from to make glow-in-the-dark floats — it just doesn’t matter. It’s about understanding your influence on others, and Disney plays a large part in the lives of kids, and their families, the whole world over.
I don’t get it.