Drop It Like It’s…
What are you doing New Year’s Eve? Times Square has its crystal ball drop, but at festivals around the country, people gather to watch objects drop at midnight that make the crystal ball seem ho-hum. Let’s see what’s dropped and who is doing the dropping.
Brands are a natural fit for quirky New Year’s Eve celebrations, as tourists and locals celebrate not just a new year but also a regional specialty.
In Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the home of Just Born candy company, revelers enjoy PEEPSFEST, featuring the dropping of a 400-pound lighted PEEPS chick (at 5:30 p.m., for the younger party-goers).
The registration for MOON PIE belongs to Chattanooga Bakery in Tennessee, but Mobile, Alabama, is home to the annual MoonPie Drop. The chocolate-covered sandwich cookies also feature in Mobile’s Mardi Gras celebration, when they are tossed at revelers.
Some New Year’s Eve traditions are themselves the subjects of registered trademark rights.
Sadly, the Atlanta Peach Drop will not ring in 2024. The city acquired a registration for PEACH DROP for entertainment services in 2014. The event has taken place sporadically since 2017 and Atlanta residents are hopeful it will be back again next year.
The Hard Rock Café owns registrations for its GUITAR DROP events. In 2011, HRC backed out of an event in Nashville, Tennessee because of reported “cost concerns.” These days, Nashville celebrates with its Music Note Drop.
We would be remiss if we did not also mention the Sister Bay, Wisconsin Cherry Drop. As some of you know, it is the hometown of one of our partners and the location of one of our favorite clients – Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant & Butik. Note to local chambers of commerce: secure the trademark rights for your New Year’s event!
The GUITAR DROP has endured in locations including Memphis (until 2019) and Key West. In our extremely unscientific poll, Key West may qualify for the most New Year’s Eve descent events per capita, with other drops including a conch shell, a lime wedge, a Pan Am aircraft, and more. Pan Am itself is an interesting trademark case. Since the airline’s 1991 bankruptcy, the brand has lived on, with registrations for everything from aircraft engine maintenance to distilled spirits.
Finally, some New Year’s Eve dropping events are just plain weird. Our favorite: In Port Clinton, Ohio, Wylie Walleye drops at midnight. Though the giant fiberglass fish does not appear to be the subject of a trademark registration for the festivities, an individual hailing from the town has applied to register WYLIE THE WALLEYE for board games.
Whether you celebrate with the Times Square ball drop (another brand collaboration, brought to you by Waterford crystal) or one of its less-famous counterparts, wishing you a happy and healthy new year!