27
Changing the perception of Mardi Gras
A woman and kid pose for a picture during Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
To view this content, Javascript must be enabled and Adobe Flash Player must be installed.
A sleeping kid at Mardi Gras with Tom Martin
A family enjoying Mardi Gras
MyMardiGras bloggers enjoy a parade
TEXT OF STORY
Kai Ryssdal: Today is Fat Tuesday. Mardi Gras if you're in New Orleans. The parts of that city that bothered to open up after the Saints won the Super Bowl a couple of weeks ago have shut back down because hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets to celebrate every year. Among all the flying beads and frozen daiquiris, though, at least one person is going to be working. And at this very moment, he's trying to change the way you and I think about Mardi Gras.
From New Orleans, reporter David Weinberg has more.
DAVID WEINBERG: Can one man, armed only with an iPhone and a Twitter account, change brand perception?
New Orleans marketing consultant Tom Martin is on a mission to find out.
Tom Martin: I made up the entire experiment while eating a Whopper in the parking lot of a Burger King. I was looking at, they were putting up at all the Mardi Gras stuff.
Martin wanted to see if he could change common perceptions of Mardi Gras, as a raucous celebration of public drunkenness and indecent exposure.
Before last year's festivities, Martin sent out a survey to get a sense of how 180 of his Twitter followers viewed the holiday. Most associated Mardi Gras with words like "crazy" and "flashing," words that didn't reflect how Martin and his family observe Mardi Gras.
MARTIN: People here have always wanted to change the impression of Mardi Gras, but they just never been able to.
Over the next five days, Martin sent hundreds of tweets with posts and photographs depicting the family-friendly side of Mardi Gras. The images showed parents and their kids watching parades, hanging out at tail-gate parties, and playing in local parks. At the end, Martin sent a follow-up survey. He found more respondents associated Mardi Gras with words like "family," "tailgating," and "food."
MARTIN: I call it a breadcrumb theory of marketing and that is if I drop the breadcrumbs the right way a reasonably logical individual is going to get to the end point that I want them to get to.
Martin is repeating the effort again this year but this time he's contracted with about a dozen bloggers from around the country to come to New Orleans and tweet about their perceptions of Mardi Gras.
Among them is Taylor Davidson. Last Friday, he turned out for a parade in the residential uptown neighborhood. Despite the chilly weather, thousands of people lined up along Napoleon Avenue to see floats, marching bands and the always popular "Flying Elvi."
Taylor Davidson: Like how cool is it to be a part of a group of a 100 guys dressed in full Elvis regalia on scooters.
Lifelong resident Sims Favaroux was also in attendance with his wife and daughter.
Kid: Throw me something, mister!
Sims Favaroux: I know we're talking to radio, but if you look around it's families, it's kids. It is a family event first and foremost and secondarily there is some decadence. It's just like saying Christmas is nothing but drunken office parties.
Some local businesses are looking to piggyback on Tom Martin's wholesome images of Mardi Gras. The downtown Sheraton Hotel offered to put the bloggers up for free in exchange for a promotional tie in. And the McIlhenny Company, which makes Tabasco sauce, provided funding for this year's efforts.
Jan Carroll is a spokeswoman for McIlhenny.
Jan Carroll: For us, we're interested in changing perceptions about this city that we really do consider our home.
But first impressions die hard. Even after last year's onslaught of family-friendly Tweets, nearly 60 percent of Tom Martin's survey respondents still associated Mardi Gras with the word "crazy."
In New Orleans, I'm David Weinberg for Marketplace.
Pages
As a native New Orleanian with a five year old we love Mardi Gras. We come to Mardi Gras every year and enjoy the family atmosphere on St. Charles Avenue. We stay in the La Maison St. Charles hotel and the entire visit hotel and parade is a family friendly. Can't wait until next Mardi Gras.
For those of you needing more proof that Mobile does indeed celebrate Mardi Gras, and celebrate it well, I have posted some evidence at http://www.cattailphoto.com/Mardi-Gras/Mardi-Gras/8188370_egbTj#53641156...
Gus - I have one nitpick in your otherwise thoughtful post with regards to the ability (or lack thereof) of out-of-towners to enjoy parades Uptown. The neutral grounds and sidewalks are public property. Tourists are welcome to set up their chairs, blankets, ladders (if they have them), and what-have-you on public property to watch the parades anywhere on Napoleon, St. Charles, or Magazine. True, it's a lot more civilized to have access to a house party if only for porcelain fixtures and running water, but having access to a house party isn't a pre-requisite to catching a parade Uptown.
S.O.M.
Short and Plum in Carrollton
As a Mother of two (ages 6 and 9), and a New Orleans transplant, I find that Mardi Gras can be a blast for families. That being said I would NOT take my kids to Burbon St during Mardi Gras, However, I would not bring them to Burbon St any time. You plan your activities according to what you would like to see. I perfer the tamer side of MG so we tend to stay on the west bank for pre-MG parades such as Gretna and Lulling and we head to Vets to catch the truck parades on MG Day. We caught 8 parades this year and I saw NOTHING scandulous! My kids had a great, innocent time.
@James Robichaux - I think that was a good and thorough analyses. I would just like to clarify a couple of things though. I didn't mean to lead to the conclusion that a civilised Mardi Gras can only be celebrated outside of New Orleans (though I can now see how my statements could be perceived that way). All I meant to say is that I thought Mardi Gras in New Orleans is wilder than Mardi Gras in Mobile - and also that Mardi Gras in down-town New Orleans is wilder than Mardi Gras in uptown New Orleans. Guess I could have just said that...;) It is what it is...
And I completely understand the cringing - I did so myself and that's the main reason I felt that I had to post here.
CORRECTION:
At the end of my fifth paragraph, I wrote:
"Therefore, in the United States outside of New Orleans who celebrate Mardi Gras than there are in New Orleans."
It is supposed to say:
"Therefore, in the United States, there are more people OUTSIDE of New Orleans who celebrate Mardi Gras than there are inside New Orleans."
To the moderator, you have my permission to alter my original post to reflect this correction.
-
As a resident of the city of New Orleans, as a native Cajun southeastern Louisiana, and as a regular Marketplace listener, I found issue with this story by the end of the first sentence.
I can understand the frustration of a previous commenter who posted about Mobile’s Carnival celebration, which is older than New Orleans’s Mardi Gras. That is why I cringed one sentence into the piece last night.
“Today is Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras if you're in New Orleans,†Kai Ryssdal, whom I respect greatly, said in his lead. This frustrated me for similar reasons that frustrated the Mobilian posters: it implies that New Orleans is the only place where Mardi Gras is celebrated, or it at least implies that it created Mardi Gras. Neither are true, even in the United States.
As has already been stated, Mobile has the oldest Mardi Gras celebration in the United States, a celebration that originated in Europe where it continues to be celebrated in various manifestations. That leads us to another problem. The term “Mardi Gras†is often conflated with the overall Carnival season. Mardi Gras is merely the last day of Carnival season.
In my case, I am a Cajun, and Cajun country is southwest of New Orleans. That’s the opposite side of New Orleans from Mobile, and we celebrate Mardi Gras (and Carnival) too. It’s actually celebrated into the southeastern corner of Texas. Therefore, in the United States outside of New Orleans who celebrate Mardi Gras than there are in New Orleans.
I heard Marketplace’s story yesterday afternoon as I was driving back to New Orleans from spending a few days along Bayou Lafourche where my ancestors settled long before the American flag flew over this land after they were expelled from Nova Scotia.
I had spent Mardi Gras and Lundi Gras there, and I watched the parades roll through my hometown of Thibodaux as a I did when was a toddler. Yes, as a toddler. Sometime in my travels of last year (I don’t remember where), someone somewhere seemed to be surprised when I told him that I had a friend in Thibodaux who lived near the parade route and that we all enjoyed the parade with his wife and children there. He seemed surprised when the word “children†came out of my mouth. Yes, it’s a family event. It always has been. Why do you think differently?
Any indecent exposure in Thibodaux, Houma, Lafayette, Mobile, or any other such place would result in a quick trip to jail just like it would on any other date of the year and in almost any other location, parade or no parade. In fact, this is the first time that I even think of this possibility. In all of my years along parade routes in Cajunland and even most parts of New Orleans, I never once thought I’d see female chests exposed.
Furthermore, I appreciate Gus Osborne’s correction about the implication that Mardi Gras is only celebrated in New Orleans, but even his message was misleading. He correctly states that Mardi Gras does not necessarily mean craziness and wildness and nudity, but he implies that celebrating Mardi Gras in moderation can only be found outside of New Orleans. Not only is the bearing of breasts and outright wildness the exception rather than the rule for Mardi Gras all over the place, but it’s also the exception in New Orleans itself. As has been repeatedly stated, Mardi Gras is a family event. New Orleans is a big city. Parades roll all over it. Only on Bourbon Street – which probably has the highest percentage of tourists anyway – is there any nudity. That’s why I love Sims Favaroux’s statement that saying that Mardi Gras is nothing but wild decadence “is just like saying Christmas is nothing but drunken office parties.â€
You won’t see any nudity along the long parade routes on Saint Charles Avenue, none on Napoleon Avenue, none on Canal Street, none on Carrollton Avenue, none on Orleans Avenue. All of those places are inside the city limits of New Orleans. The problem, though, is that if you’re watching television coverage of Mardi Gras from some other part of the country, you almost surely won’t see any of those places, and that’s where the locals are.
Of course, people outside of this area often get a misleading perception of the tradition because media fail to stay here after Mardi Gras, since one can only get a true understanding of Carnival by seeing what comes AFTER it. Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. The celebrations all ended at midnight last night. Tourists fill the airport today, wearing their beads, still celebrating while they wait for their outbound flights, but they don’t understand the tradition anyway. Therefore, they really shouldn’t be studied if you are trying to understand Mardi Gras. Nearly all of the people who make the biggest fools of themselves on Mardi Gras are not from here anyway. For people from here, today, Ash Wednesday, is a day of austerity, of sacrifice, of fasting. Actually, it’s the first of 40 such days.
Mardi Gras and Carnival cannot be understood in a vacuum, and that’s why it is so misunderstood. The decadence and pageantry has no significance until one considers the time period austerity that they precede, and that’s what so many who are away from this area fail to understand. Yesterday, people around here partied. Today, they get ashes on their forehead and talk about what vices they are giving up for Lent, whether it be alcohol, chocolate, fast food, swearing, or meat, which is actually the real reason for Carnival since the word Carnival itself comes from the root of our word for meat.
Anyone wishing to see images of what Mardi Gras is really like should see my new photo news feature site for the New Orleans area, the NOLA Post.
The pictures there are from the Endymion parade held this past Saturday.
James A. Robichaux
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A.
-
As a resident of the city of New Orleans, as a native Cajun southeastern Louisiana, and as a regular Marketplace listener, I found issue with this story by the end of the first sentence.
I can understand the frustration of a previous commenter who posted about Mobile’s Carnival celebration, which is older than New Orleans’s Mardi Gras. That is why I cringed one sentence into the piece last night.
“Today is Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras if you're in New Orleans,†Kai Ryssdal, whom I respect greatly, said in his lead. This frustrated me for similar reasons that frustrated the Mobilian posters: it implies that New Orleans is the only place where Mardi Gras is celebrated, or it at least implies that it created Mardi Gras. Neither are true, even in the United States.
As has already been stated, Mobile has the oldest Mardi Gras celebration in the United States, a celebration that originated in Europe where it continues to be celebrated in various manifestations. That leads us to another problem. The term “Mardi Gras†is often conflated with the overall Carnival season. Mardi Gras is merely the last day of Carnival season.
In my case, I am a Cajun, and Cajun country is southwest of New Orleans. That’s the opposite side of New Orleans from Mobile, and we celebrate Mardi Gras (and Carnival) too. It’s actually celebrated into the southeastern corner of Texas. Therefore, in the United States outside of New Orleans who celebrate Mardi Gras than there are in New Orleans.
I heard Marketplace’s story yesterday afternoon as I was driving back to New Orleans from spending a few days along Bayou Lafourche where my ancestors settled long before the American flag flew over this land after they were expelled from Nova Scotia.
I had spent Mardi Gras and Lundi Gras there, and I watched the parades roll through my hometown of Thibodaux as a I did when was a toddler. Yes, as a toddler. Sometime in my travels of last year (I don’t remember where), someone somewhere seemed to be surprised when I told him that I had a friend in Thibodaux who lived near the parade route and that we all enjoyed the parade with his wife and children there. He seemed surprised when the word “children†came out of my mouth. Yes, it’s a family event. It always has been. Why do you think differently?
Any indecent exposure in Thibodaux, Houma, Lafayette, Mobile, or any other such place would result in a quick trip to jail just like it would on any other date of the year and in almost any other location, parade or no parade. In fact, this is the first time that I even think of this possibility. In all of my years along parade routes in Cajunland and even most parts of New Orleans, I never once thought I’d see female chests exposed.
Furthermore, I appreciate Gus Osborne’s correction about the implication that Mardi Gras is only celebrated in New Orleans, but even his message was misleading. He correctly states that Mardi Gras does not necessarily mean craziness and wildness and nudity, but he implies that celebrating Mardi Gras in moderation can only be found outside of New Orleans. Not only is the bearing of breasts and outright wildness the exception rather than the rule for Mardi Gras all over the place, but it’s also the exception in New Orleans itself. As has been repeatedly stated, Mardi Gras is a family event. New Orleans is a big city. Parades roll all over it. Only on Bourbon Street – which probably has the highest percentage of tourists anyway – is there any nudity. That’s why I love Sims Favaroux’s statement that saying that Mardi Gras is nothing but wild decadence “is just like saying Christmas is nothing but drunken office parties.â€
You won’t see any nudity along the long parade routes on Saint Charles Avenue, none on Napoleon Avenue, none on Canal Street, none on Carrollton Avenue, none on Orleans Avenue. All of those places are inside the city limits of New Orleans. The problem, though, is that if you’re watching television coverage of Mardi Gras from some other part of the country, you almost surely won’t see any of those places, and that’s where the locals are.
Of course, people outside of this area often get a misleading perception of the tradition because media fail to stay here after Mardi Gras, since one can only get a true understanding of Carnival by seeing what comes AFTER it. Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. The celebrations all ended at midnight last night. Tourists fill the airport today, wearing their beads, still celebrating while they wait for their outbound flights, but they don’t understand the tradition anyway. Therefore, they really shouldn’t be studied if you are trying to understand Mardi Gras. Nearly all of the people who make the biggest fools of themselves on Mardi Gras are not from here anyway. For people from here, today, Ash Wednesday, is a day of austerity, of sacrifice, of fasting. Actually, it’s the first of 40 such days.
Mardi Gras and Carnival cannot be understood in a vacuum, and that’s why it is so misunderstood. The decadence and pageantry has no significance until one considers the time period austerity that they precede, and that’s what so many who are away from this area fail to understand. Yesterday, people around here partied. Today, they get ashes on their forehead and talk about what vices they are giving up for Lent, whether it be alcohol, chocolate, fast food, swearing, or meat, which is actually the real reason for Carnival since the word Carnival itself comes from the root of our word for meat.
Anyone wishing to see images of what Mardi Gras is really like should see my new photo news feature site for the New Orleans area, the NOLA Post.
The pictures there are from the Endymion parade held this past Saturday.
James A. Robichaux
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A.
mardi gras is a what you make of it. it could be a drunken crazy event or it could be as most see it a family fun time. but face it that could be any event, weddings, reunions,etc. you always have a few bad apples in every group. i have 4 children when they were young we all went to the parades together and as they got older they started going on their own and I stopped going until the grandchildren started coming again, but have stopped going once again. now i watch it on tv. it was fun and it is something for families and young adults to enjoy. but they need to know it how to make it fun and not over drink... thanks
As for where Mardi Gras originated in America, no one will ever come up with the definitive answer, because the story is rich and complex, involving Mummers from Philadelphia, New Year's celebrations in Mobile, and centuries of Catholic history.
There's something for everyone during Carnival season in New Orleans - from Downtown hipsters staging R-rated satirical parades to Uptown families watching Rex on the Avenue, to hordes of tourists looking for, well, whatever they're looking to get out of Mardi Gras.
Oh, by the way, exposing one's breasts or junk in public is illegal in New Orleans, even on Bourbon Street. If it gets reported, it's usually just reprimanded, but you can be arrested for it, especially Uptown where kids are watching parades with their families.
And, BTW, it's the Rolling Elvi, not the Flying Elvi.
Pages
