Kansas in the Rose Parade: Same ol’ Wizard of Oz crap

Kansans looking for home state props during tomorrow’s Tournament of Roses parade can thank Bayer CropScience, a massive ag science company, for once again reminding millions of viewers worldwide that Kansas will never, ever be rid of The Wizard of Oz.

Bayer CropScience, which is part of the Bayer global health, science and technology conglomerate, has a Manufacturing, Research and Development plant on Hawthorne Road in Kansas City, Missouri, and a Research and Development facility in Stilwell, Kansas. They are happy to announce that their “Rose Parade Tribute Float with Kansas City ties” kicks off the movie’s 70th anniversary.

Here’s a picture of their fabulous float:

According to the company’s description, the monstrosity “will feature enormous (20-plus-foot-tall) replicas of the movie’s Tin Man, Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion coated in
more than 12,000 live flowers…. See if you can spot the yellow roses on the float — named appropriately “Yellow Brick Road” roses — at the characters’ feet when the parade airs
on NBC, ABC and HGTV at 10 a.m.”

Mark Schneid, Bayer CropScience’s director of marketing, explains that the float team came up with the concept last spring, when the Tournament of Roses announced its theme for this year’s parade: “Hats Off to Entertainment.”