PRSA - How Goodyear’s Comms Team Marked 100 Years of the Blimp

Goodyear’s 100-year celebration of the Blimp wasn’t just a birthday.

It was a masterclass in how to turn an iconic asset into measurable brand impact. From the “Blimps are cool. Buy tires.” campaign and a national fly-on-the-blimp sweepstakes that drove thousands of tire sales to expanded appearances at events like Coachella, Lollapalooza, and Wrestlemania, the comms team found smart, highly shareable ways to connect a legacy symbol with younger, global audiences and everyday purchasing decisions.

The piece also highlights the now-viral “Blimp Birthday Celebration,” where mascots from brands like Scrub Daddy, Wendy’s, Kool-Aid, Teletubbies, and Oreo descended on Akron and generated millions of impressions, prompting Earned Impression’s own Kevin Saghy to say the team “rewrote the book” on milestone campaigns.

Behind the fun is a sophisticated strategy: blending community roots, employee engagement, philanthropy, and social-first storytelling to keep a 100-year-old icon culturally relevant and commercially powerful.