Nickelodeon Debuting New Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Float

By Daniel S. Levine

Nickelodeon made an early Halloween horror announcement for parents desperately trying to get the "Baby Shark" song out of their heads. The upcoming 96th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will feature the first Baby Shark float, Nickelodeon and The Pinkfong Company announced Thursday. That means even Thanksgiving will be invaded by the "Baby Shark" song.

The 25-foot-long Baby Shark balloon will not be moving down the streets of Manhattan on its own though. It will be accompanied by an 18-foot-long float on the ground, with members of the Shark family, starfish, and species of anemone. It is the latest Nicekodeon balloon to join the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade lineup, following the Blue's Clues & You! float, and Spongebob Squarepants, PAW Patrol, and The Smurfs balloons. All of these balloons and the Blue's Clues float will be returning in 2022.

"The Macy's Parade is always thrilled to welcome a new Nickelodeon property to our iconic event," Jordan Dabby, producer of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, said in a statement. "The Baby Shark dynamic balloon and float hybrid is incredibly unique to the Parade and will undoubtedly amaze families as it travels down the streets of New York City this Thanksgiving."

"The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is a beloved holiday spectacle that kids and families across the U.S., as well as millions of spectators who line the streets of New York City, look forward to every year," Veronica Hart, Executive Vice President, Global Franchise Planning and Consumer Products Marketing, Paramount Global, added. "With the addition of Baby Shark to a lineup that includes global hits SpongeBob SquarePants, PAW Patrol, Blue's Clues & You! and The Smurfs, Nickelodeon is bringing its most iconic characters, who appeal to the entire family, from preschoolers to tweens and teens and parents, to the Parade route to help ring in the holiday season."

The "Baby Shark" song became a phenomenon in late 2015 after the South Korean education brand Pinkfong released an original music video for the song. The "Baby Shark Dance" exploded in popularity in 2017 and it became the first YouTube video to reach 10 billion views in January. It has since surpassed 11.4 billion views, as of October. The song even charted in the U.S., peaking at 32 on the Billboard Hot 100. Nickelodeon began airing the English-language version of Baby Shark's Big Show! in December 2020. A special Halloween episode, "The Treat Goblin/Baby Super Shark," will air on Tuesday, Oct. 18 at 11 a.m. ET.

NBC will once again air Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade this year. It kicks off at 9 a.m. in all time zones on Thursday, Nov. 24. It will also stream on Peacock.

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