Ask Jeeves (www.ask.com) announced on November 25 that for the fifth year its trademark Internet butler will be featured in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 25. The company, which owns the search engines Ask.com and Excite.com, wouldn't say how much the exposure cost. Ask Jeeves is the only Internet company present in this year's parade.
Each year, about 44 million people tune into NBC to watch the parade and another 2.5 million line the streets of New York City to catch the festivities, according to Macy's. This year, the balloon featuring the butler needed to be revamped since the company gave its butler a makeover earlier in 2004. The character, modelled on author PG Wodehouse's Jeeves butler, is now fitter, tan and sports a new suit.
The balloon measures 39 feet high, 70 feet long, 25 feet wide and holds 12,700 cubic feet of helium. Fifty handlers will attend to the balloon, and a team of Jeeves butlers will run around handing out hot chocolate to keep the crowd warm. Marcos Sorensen, who created the iconic butler for Ask Jeeves, said that Ask Jeeves is an everyday search engine and that the Thanksgiving parade seems like a perfect spot for Ask Jeeves.
