New Orleans Mardi Gras - Commercialization

Commercialization

Orleans Parish has laws prohibiting any form of commercial advertising on Carnival parades. Mardi Gras is a traditional holiday, so there is no such thing as an official Mardi Gras product or sponsor, any more than there can be, say, an official sponsor of Christmas. Nonetheless, many merchants sell so-called "official" merchandise to visiting tourists. A common con often played on tourist is a "ticket" to Mardi Gras. There is no official invitation-only celebration that requires a ticket. Mardi Gras is composed of various events such as balls for social clubs in the New Orleans Area, but the main event is simply a street festival, open to the public. Some individual krewes do, however, produce an official poster of their organization each year. There are viewing stands erected along St. Charles Avenue which require a ticket for seating.

The one exception to the lack of official sponsorship was the 2006 Mardi Gras season. Due to budget problems following Hurricane Katrina, the city of New Orleans offered the opportunity for four companies to become the first corporate sponsors of Mardi Gras. National media buying club MediaBuys.com was selected by the city to locate sponsors in a 30-day window. There was concern that without this drastic step, the city government would lack funds to provide basic services for the parades. Glad was the only company to take the offer. In addition to its significant program commitment, Glad worked with the City of New Orleans Department of Sanitation in the carnival's sanitation maintenance and clean-up efforts, which would otherwise have mounted a considerable expense for the municipality.