“Why is the Goodyear blimp always flying around?!” Twitter user Maureen asked. The Goodyear Blimp wasted no time to tell Maureen that that’s its job.
“It’s literally what we do, Maureen,” the Blimp’s account wrote. The internet, of course, loved the aircraft’s cheeky response and piled on. “That blimp has ONE job,” one Twitter user responded. “Maureen, it’s a blimp. What else would it be doing?” another chimed in. “Classic Maureen,” a third quipped.
“When you spend that much money on an advertising campaign, you fly that thing as often as possible,” one Reddit user noted.
Another Reddit user got nostalgic over the airship. “I used to see the Goodyear Blimp occasionally as a kid and got really excited about it. Now I can’t recall the last time I’ve seen it in person,” they wrote. “My kids have never seen it I hope it comes by some day so they can enjoy it as much as I did.”
According to the Goodyear Blimp’s official website, the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company was founded in 1898, and built its first balloon in 1912. Its first blimp, Pilgrim, launched in 1925. It was apparently the first blimp to fly with helium instead of flammable hydrogen. The company has owned and operated the helium-filled dirigibles for decades since.
Throughout its 95 years in operation, the different blimps have flown internationally, over sporting events and helped broadcast major news breaking news. Many observers have found witnessing the blimp take flight to be memorable.
In 2014, Goodyear began phasing out the non-rigid airships (which have no internal structure) with semi-rigid airships, which have rigid internal frames. The last true Goodyear Blimp, The Spirit of Innovation, was retired in 2017.
Now, there are three semi-rigid airships that are currently in use: Wingfoot One (based in Pompano Beach, Florida), Wingfoot Two (based in Carson, California) and Wingfoot Three (based in Suffield, Ohio). Though “blimp” isn’t the correct technical term for these newer aircrafts, it is accepted and encouraged by Goodyear, and part of the lexicon for these giants in the sky.
Blimp fanatics can find out the aircraft’s flight schedules by checking out Goodyear’s Facebook page or calling up one of the company’s bases.
These non-rigid airships are now used mainly for advertising the tire company, along with getting aerial shots of sporting events—plus, the occasional brazen tweet.
Newsweek did not receive comment from the Goodyear Blimp at the time of publication.