Giant cow goes through the Locks

Geeky Swedes Ballard

You don’t see this every day. It pains us to post this because it’s a publicity stunt, but it was a particularly effective one, to say the least.

Bessie the giant inflatable Holstein cow cruised through the Locks and the Ship Canal, generating lots of “earned media” for the Dairy Farmers of Washington. After all, why buy advertising when you can get blog posts like this for free?

But it was a sight. Lucas even made this video:

And Bessie even cruised Elliott Bay, pushed by a tug:

Don’t you want to drink more milk?

Geeky Swedes

The founders of My Ballard

34 thoughts to “Giant cow goes through the Locks”

  1. You are reporting news of advertising. In effect, then, you are promoting the advertising. One could take a hard line or a soft line on this. Either way, it is important to note that your current stance is equivocal.

      1. No idea but I read in the South Seattle Emerald that all corporations larger than a craft collective are tools of The Man and need to be overthrown. That cow is a symbol of the oppression of Big Agriculture and hegemony!

  4. There have been many interesting things that have gone through the Locks and there is nothing wrong with a big inflatable cow to bring smiles to everyone who is visiting the Locks. Who cares about any type of advertisement. If you are upset with all of the ads, then do something about all of the billboards on the highway and those trucks that drive around with their big billboards on them. Leave the cow alone.

    This comment from a long time resident of Ballard

  5. This is happy news in Ballard! Sort of like the parade in Fremont. At least it wasn’t a giant green bicycle, for those who don’ t like the advertising aspect of it all.

  6. What happened to the avatar pictures?
    Did some unnamed city council ‘member’ lean on this website to ‘clean up’ the naughty images?

    1. 25% of the US beef supply comes from dairy cows,mostly male calves that have no value as milk producers, so you can love your dairy and your ground up baby male cows!

  9. Wondered why all the vegan protestors were out at the locks yesterday. Probably harassing kids eating their ice cream cones as well.

    1. If you cared about animals at all, you would be vegan too. I don’t agree with some of the tactics that vegan activists use, but I do know that most animal products consumed in the US come from factory farms where conditions are absolutely abhorrent. I’m not going to tell you what to shove in your mouth, but, please, take time to educate yourself about factory farms before being quick to condemn vegans.

      1. What if I don’t eat factory farmed meats? Ate some wonderful wild meats too in my day, even shot a few myself.

        You know, humans are omnivores. That is unless you believe the world is flat too.

  16. Yes, this is corporate advertising, but so were many of the shenanigans that Ivar Haglund and his cohort staged — I still love the image of a giant cow floating on the lake.

  19. Several of us saw this coming down the sound, where it was too distant to make out what the sign said, but you could tell it was no ordinary barge-load. Thanks for filling us in.

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