Sinclair puts balloon in Macy's parade for first time since 1976


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SALT LAKE CITY — On Thanksgiving Day, an iconic, life-sized dinosaur will soar over Manhattan.

It's been almost 40 years since the Sinclair Oil Corp. dinosaur balloon participated in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, but the 72-foot-long, 36-foot-tall Apatosaurus is back.

Sinclair is headquartered in Salt Lake City, and the company is getting ready to celebrate 100 years in business.

According to Sinclair Chairman and CEO Ross Matthews, the parade is part of the company's centennial celebration, which will take place in 2016.

"...It's one of the most beloved logos in American business," Matthews said of the dinosaur.

Matthews said Sinclair is a family-owned business and they feel the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is a family celebration, so it goes along well with their values.

The dinosaur made its debut in the parade in the 1960s as part of the promotion of Dinoland, which was an exhibit at the World's Fair in New York.

The Sinclair dinosaur is one of 17 giant balloons that will appear in this year's parade, Matthews said.

"It is just the most exciting way that we could find to celebrate our relationship with the public and with the greater Sinclair family," Matthews said. "And we just … think it shows our brand in a very positive way."

Matthews recently traveled to South Dakota with some co-workers for the inaugural flight of the participating parade balloons.

The Sinclair employees got to help take the balloon around an indoor football field at the University of South Dakota.

"It was really a lot of fun, and it was just great seeing the expressions of the folks who made the balloon," Matthews said. "Because they made it, but they haven't seen it inflated yet, and there was just a lot of excitement around the dinosaur balloon."

On the day of the parade, Sinclair employees and Sinclair employee family members will be among the many holding onto the end of the rope attached to the dinosaur.

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will air from 9 a.m. to noon Thursday on NBC. Pictures of the balloon at the parade will appear live on Sinclair's website.

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