500 drones create a flying Candy Crush ad over NYC
Five hundred light-equipped drones will be launched into the sky over New York City tonight to form a giant flying advertisement for the Candy Crush mobile game. (through Gothamist).
Hosted for the game’s 10th anniversary, the 10-minute choreographed performance will “turn the sky into the largest screen in the world,” said Fernanda Romano, chief marketing officer at Candy Crush.
Because of the city aviation laws (which bans people from flying a single drone in NYC, let alone 500), the drones will actually launch from across New Jersey’s Hudson River, but must be visible within a mile of Battery Park in Lower Manhattan. The event was granted a special operating permit because New Jersey’s state parks also have restrictions on flying drones. This isn’t the area’s first drone light show, with similar performance for the NBA draft in June this year using the same locational loophole.
NYC is hardly known as a popular stargazing destination thanks to its light pollution, but a flying ad that the literal heaven in a commercialized billboard has understandably annoyed some city residents. “I think it’s outrageous to spoil our city’s skyline for private profit,” Senator Brad Hoylman said. Gothamist. “It’s offensive to New Yorkers, to our local laws, to public safety and to wildlife.”
With regard to wildlife, there are concerns that the aerial light show could affect thousands of migratory birds in the area. “The Hudson is an important flight path for birds, and luckily it’s been dark,” said Dustin Partridge, director of conservation and science at NYC Audubon. “To get in like that without thinking about the impact on the environment and the birds that will fly in the same airspace as those drones is surprising.”