From 6th Ave to space: Haribo gummi candies blast off into Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Haribo is adding its own "cosmic" taste to Thanksgiving by launching Goldbear (and its friends) where no gummi candy has gone before.

If you are thinking that is outer space, you are at least a decade too late.

Rather, the bright yellow gummi bear, along with twin snakes, frogs and rainbow worms, are blasting off into the 98th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade today (Nov. 28) in New York City. Haribo's "Candy Cosmos"-themed float features brightly colored sweets, an astronaut and a towering rocket, the latter as seen on some packages of Haribo Starmix.

Goldbear, Haribo's mascot, leads off the procession as a giant balloon, "bringing joy to the New York City skyline," the German confectionary company announced in a press release ahead of Thursday's (Nov. 28) Turkey Day parade.

"Our fans' imaginations inspire us to innovate fun gummi flavors, shapes and textures, so we're thrilled to dream up a parade experience that reflects that same childlike happiness for consumers of all ages," said Seth Klugherz, vice president of marketing for Haribo of America. "Haribo is proud to be producing our world-famous gummies in the U.S., so being part of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade feels like the perfect way to celebrate that with fans, families and friends."

Related: Thanksgiving night sky 2024: Venus, Jupiter and Saturn stay for dessert

As for the float's out-of-this-world theme, it is not clear when Haribo's candies first became space food for real (neither Haribo or NASA were available to comment). There is visual evidence though, that its gummi bears crossed into the final frontier at least 10 years ago. The Expedition 35 crew, led by Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield, were photographed on board the International Space Station with an off-the-shelf bag of the chewy candies clipped to their galley wall.

"We kept a chocolate wall on the space station, quick energy food that never spoils," wrote Hadfield about the snacks and sweets, captioning a 2013 photo in a social media post.

More recently, Expedition 68 flight engineer Koichi Wakata was filmed playing with the gummi bears in microgravity in early 2023. The JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut demonstrated how water tension and capillary effects result in a unique flow by inserting gummi bears into a sphere of water.

Studying how liquids behave in space can and has led to advances in life support systems, enhanced our understanding of diseases and natural disasters and helped improve consumer products. It can also make for colorful displays that are mesmerizing to watch and even tasty to clean up, as Wakata shows in the video.

Haribo is not the only brand of gummies (or candy) to fly in space. For example, Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang of the European Space Agency brought with him a special edition of The Leaf Candy Company's "Ahlgrens bilar," which swapped space shuttle orbiters for the regular race car-shaped, marshmallow-like sweets.

Haribo's "Candy Cosmos" float is the only space-related entry in the 98th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

"We're thrilled for spectators, both in NYC and at home, to welcome Haribo to the parade!" said Jordan Dabby, producer of the parade. "We can't wait for gummi-loving fans to experience the magic of Haribo's incredible float."

In recent years, the celebration has included a giant Snoopy balloon clad in a NASA spacesuit and a float by Olay featuring a larger-than-life astronaut as part of the skincare company's "Make Space For Women" STEM-focused campaign.

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