The Empire State Building, an iconic landmark of New York City, was transformed into a canvas for a massive marketing stunt on June 16th, 2024.
A massive green dragon inflatable, inspired by the HBO series 'House of the Dragon,' captivated the attention of locals and tourists alike.
The gigantic dragon, identified as Vhagar, one of the dragons featured in the show, was securely anchored to the top of the skyscraper using an intricate system of 153 rigging points, 1,700 pattern pieces, and over 600,000 sewn stitches.
In addition to the giant dragon display, the Empire State Building created a special exhibit for "House of the Dragon" fans.
People could pay to enter and see exhibits and activities related to the show.
This allowed the building to offer an even more immersive experience for anyone interested in the 'Game of Thrones' universe.
For $46 per adult, guests could explore the 'Game of Thrones' universe, including a larger-than-life Throne of Swords set up for Instagram-worthy photos.
The 86th-floor observation deck offered additional interactive exhibits and activities related to the show.
While many fans were thrilled to see such an elaborate marketing campaign, not everyone was impressed.
Some visitors, like Lark from Germany, were disappointed that the dragon display obscured the building's iconic architecture.
One tourist, Lark from Germany, expressed his disappointment, saying that with the dragon surrounding the top of the building, it was difficult to appreciate the original structure fully.
I remember when this was done when King Kong was celebrating his 50th.It was a deflating experience, one user said.
Vhagar would like a word with the one who made that horrible rendition of her, the second user commented.
So the company that's hemorrhaging money is wasting more of it to promote the one show on earth that doesn't need any help attracting an audience, the third user said.
Does it/they identify as a dragon or King Kong? lol, another wrote.
However, the dragon's presence on the Empire State Building has undoubtedly generated significant buzz and excitement for the premiere of "House of the Dragon" season 2, which is set to air later that evening on HBO.
Leto started his climb from floors 86 to 104, over 1,300 feet above the ground, and it took him about 20 minutes to complete.
While he only climbed a portion of the building, this is still a more impressive feat than anything anyone has legally done.
Leto shared that he wanted to cross this challenge off his bucket list and promote his band's world tour for 30 Seconds to Mars in 2024.
He also explained that New York was always the place he wanted to become an artist, and the Empire State Building was the symbol of that.
After reaching the top, Leto talked about his adventure and showed the injuries on his bloodied hands caused by the building's sharp edges.
Though he didn't use full climbing gear and ropes, Leto successfully scaled the building, becoming the first person to do so legally, following the illegal act of Alain Robert in 1994.
