BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Louisiana will have its first float in the New Year's Day Tournament of Roses Parade, building on what Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser said has been a marketing bonanza since the state's float entry in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Nungesser, who oversees tourism marketing for the state, told The Advertiser newspaper that his office has tracked the equivalent of $15 million in media coverage from the state's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade alligator float. The cost for participating in the Macy's parade is $1.3 million for three years.
"We knocked it out of the park," Nungesser said. "We've got the investment back 10 times over. I'm still getting calls. We had media coverage in Hong Kong and all over the world."
He said his office has paid $700,000 to be in the Tournament of Roses Parade for one year, with an option for two more years.
The float for the parade, which marks the start of the Rose Bowl game, will feature moss-draped cypress trees, a Cajun fisherman in a pirogue, sculptured magnolias, pelicans, crawfish, crabs and powdered sugar-covered beignets. The float also will be adorned with 34,000 roses.
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American Idol winner Laine Hardy and the Hot 8 Brass Band will perform mid-parade on a stage in front of the Louisiana tourism logo "Feed Your Soul."
"As we open our doors to the world and compete with tourism destinations across the globe, it's important to think outside the box," Nungesser told the newspaper about Louisiana's marketing efforts in the iconic parades.
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