Times Square Ball Drop: Corporate Logoland

Is is just me, or is New York City's ball drop at midnight one of the most boring, ugly public celebrations of the New Year in the world? Every December 31st we are forced to endure prolonged, televised views of the huge, tawdry corporate advertising screens that now define Times Square, the crowds penned in place like beasts by hundreds of police barriers, the strobing, garish lights and that dumb ball traveling down the pole with a corporate logo at the bottom. Then there's the anti-climactic finish consisting of a paltry fireworks display that compares unfavorably with those in our smallest towns on the 4th of July.

That's bad enough, but it's made even worse by the vapid, clownish acts of the media talking heads, the often horrible musical performances, the new car models spinning on turntables like objects of worship and those awful hats worn by crowd members that advertise Pontiacs or whichever "official product" is being hawked in any given year. Don't forget the screeching multitudes who've been denied alcohol, bathrooms and nourishment -- and have been standing in the cold for up to 14 hours to assure their places close to the cameras so they can grab their 15 seconds of fame. Perhaps the most irritating thing is that they seem to believe it's worth it. They even seem thrilled to see Michael Bloomberg or Rudy Giuliani or A-Rod bragging how NYC is the center of the universe with the most impressive New Year's Eve celebration on the planet.

"Green" Ball Fall
This year we're told that the infamous ball is now "green," and uses LED bulbs for illumination, thus cutting electric usage to less than that of ten toasters, providing more than twice the brightness of last year's version and having the ability to generate 16 million colors. Yowsa. One small, unmentioned complication in this energy efficiency demonstration project? Those dozens of outrageously lit advertising signs and brightly shining buildings that line the square, pulsating 24/7 and sucking up electricity like monstrous energy sinks.

In Comparison
My favorite TV coverage of New Year's Eve occurred during the change of centuries, at The Millenium. At least that year we got to see diverse and often fascinating broadcasts of celebrations around the world, from Australia's Aborigines to the major cities of Europe to the Pacific Rim. I thought almost every single one of them was more compelling, beautiful and dramatic than the ones we get a glimpse of each year in Time Square. Beautiful civic or natural backdrops, better fireworks displays, exotic effects and music, diverse symbolism and traditions. And -- unlike the penned, cop-heavy, vigorously searched and "managed" crowds in New York -- celebrants in other nations are still permitted their champagne toasts in the streets and party hats without corporate logos. Lavish ad boards are rare or nonexistent in the vicinity of the celebrations.

Then again, too many Americans might feel lost if they were too far away from a corporate logo or a "Homeland Security" agent, even on holidays (holy-days). I guess it's only fitting, after all, that a corporatist, "growth" obsessed, consumer culture like ours focuses on an ad display like the one in Times Square to convey the feelings of the nation as a New Year dawns. At least for now. But as we all know, big changes are on the way .... one way or another.

Sydney and Seattle (above). London and Paris (below)

Angel Fire skiers with torches and a beach in India:

Johannesburg and Hong Kong:

Click on photos for larger versions.