As reported by Gothamist, at least 500 drones are planned to ascend to the skies of New York City tomorrow, Novemeber 3, in a campaign for the video game Candy Crush. The LED-equipped drones will flicker and dart about in complex choreography to form moving graphics, turning the night sky into a billboard for the game. Originally becoming popular in China, this form of advertising has become more popular stateside in the past year, and tomorrow’s event will be the second ever in New York City. Both New York drone advertisements handled by drone event company Pixis, the first being an event to promote this summer’s NBA draft.
Last night, the first-ever drone light show in the New York metropolitan area flew over the Hudson River in celebration of the 2022 NBA Draft Presented by State Farm. pic.twitter.com/TBS58qAJcp
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) June 22, 2022
While many are eagerly anticipating the drone show, others are not so pleased with the idea of NYC’s sky being turned into a billboard for 10 minutes. State Senator Brad Hoylman was quoted as stating, “I think it’s outrageous to be spoiling our city’s skyline for private profit. It’s offensive to New Yorkers, to our local laws, to public safety, and to wildlife.” The laws Sen. Hoylman referred to are the city’s strict (but often ignored) laws that ban the flight of any drones in the city. Technically, while the show will be easily viewable to anyone in New York City, the drones are being flown in New Jersey, where Pixis has been given a special use permit to operate the event. Whichever side you are on, there’s no doubt that these advertisement drone shows are gaining steam, and will certainly need to be addressed in the near future.
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