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Mardi Gras Seeks Sponsor

Any acceptable company that steps forward with $2 million to help pay for police overtime, fire protection and sanitation during next year’s abbreviated eight-day Mardi Gras will be crowned the “official sponsor of Mardi Gras 2006,” The Times-Picayune reports.

 

Under a proposal being circulated to prospective sponsors, the city is looking for $2 million to underwrite the costs of putting on the first post-Katrina Carnival. In exchange, the sponsor will get the exclusive right to Webcast parade activities and call itself the “official sponsor of Mardi Gras 2006.” The designation is not a title sponsorship, but the sponsor’s name would be included in all media materials from the city. In addition, the mayor’s office would work with krewes to secure spots for corporate guests to ride in parades and attend balls. The corporate sponsor would also be invited to all official mayoral Mardi Gras activities.

But any potential sponsor should understand that the move is bound to ignite controversy about the commercialization of New Orleans’ signature cultural event. Carnival has already become a lightning rod for criticism that the city should not be inviting the world to a party at a time when many residents have no homes.