Despite COVID-19 numbers on the rise and the country in the midst of the pandemic, Macy’s still wanted to put on the Thanksgiving Day Parade to keep with their nearly 100 years of tradition.
But for some loyal viewers, was it even worth it?
Many deflated fans will say no. And they spent a lot of time on Twitter doing so. Unfortunately, fans weren’t the only thing that deflated.
Macy’s Fans Feel Deflated
One of the biggest issues was for those watching the Verizon live stream of the event. The actual music and sounds of the parade were battling added music that sounded like “elevator” music.
Many fans expressed disappointment in Macy’s for their description of the historically all-Black sorority Zeta Phi Beta. In a now-deleted tweet, the company called them a “diverse dance group.”
Originally some fans were excited that the first-ever Black Greek Lettered organization was participating in the Macy’s parade. The failure to properly describe the group was not taken lightly by social media users.
On the other hand, Macy’s also had a float with Karol J on it that impressed many with the detail as well as the message of promoting Black women in STEM.
Social media users also complained about certain editing choices. Performers from pre-production were getting cut short to save on time.
“Why is @nbc cutting off the great Darlene Love??!! And so very disappointed that they cut off the Native American’s most beautiful presentation! So disturbing that some idiot made a decision like that!”
It may just be that the producers were rushed for time trying to piece together the parade that was partially already recorded and also happening in real-time.
‘I agree @NBC is making poor editing decisions. Just plan out the performances better ahead of time,’ another user wrote.
Other users went on to complain about lip sync performances and performers waving at a non-existent crowd.
Parade During the Pandemic
On the other side, other social media users were uncomfortable with the parade still taking place since some performers or other participants were not wearing a mask.
The overall disappointment continued to lead to a lot of jokes on social media. Probably to cope with the loss of the normally well-acclaimed parade.
Despite some controversial decisions and editing techniques, many were just glad they were still able to see the parade at all. With 2020 taking many traditions and set to take even more with December approaching, latching onto still having this one on Thanksgiving meant a lot to some people.
One user said “@Macys great job with the parade! Possibly the best one ever! Great job with masks and social distancing of the performers! Thanks of adapting!!!”
