The N.C. State Fair makes a Rose Bowl Parade appearance (sort of)

I was out shopping on New Year’s  Day when my phone beeped with a Twitter notification. A loyal follower tweeted that the N.C. State Fair’s logo just showed up in the Rose Bowl Parade. A few minutes later, I had a voicemail from my sister telling me the same thing. I figured it was a subtle use of one of our themes, but a Google search showed that Discover used our actual oval logo in their design, minus the “Raleigh, NC” part.

Design sketch of the float

I found a press release from Discover Financial Services about why they chose state fairs as their theme:

In keeping with this year’s Rose Parade theme – Building Dreams, Friendships and Memories – Discover has selected Fiesta Parade Floats to design and construct a float entitled “A State Fair to Remember.”

“We’re proud to be part of such a great American tradition,” said Julie Loeger, Senior Vice President of Brand and Product Management at Discover. “Since so many of our customers watch the Rose Parade each New Year’s Day, we’ve designed our float to celebrate one of the things they care about most: spending time with family and friends. And a state fair is the kind of experience where everyone can have fun and create lasting memories together.”

We’re proud that they chose to use state fairs as their theme and that they found our logo to be most representative of all the great logos out there. Congrats to Discover for winning the Grand Marshal’s trophy. They did a great job portraying the many facets of a state fair that make it so memorable.

You can find out more about the Discover float at the blog, March to the Rose Parade.