Maybelline to Sponsor Hurricane Eye Flights in 2016

By: Jeff Masters , 1:12PM,GMT on April 1,2016



 

NOAA's Hurricane Hunters will have a new mission when they fly into the eyes of hurricanes this summer: issue plugs for their new corporate sponsor, eye makeup manufacturer Maybelline. At a joint NOAA/Maybelline press conference on April 1st, NOAA administrator Dr. Kathryn Sullivan lauded the agency's new sponsor, who outbid eyedrop manufacturer Visene for the exclusive sponsorship: "This remarkable partnership between NOAA and Maybelline is worth $1.23 million per year, which will enable the Hurricane Hunters to perform critical upgrades to their aging instrumentation, allowing them to continue to take the data crucial for predicting and understanding these most dangerous storms." Maybelline president David Greenberg added, "Maybelline's sponsorship of hurricane eye flights is a perfect public-private partnership blend. From Maybelline's perspective, what better way to draw attention to the power and beauty of eye makeup than to advertise Maybelline products from inside one of the most powerful and impressive eyes on the planet--the center of a mighty hurricanus maximus?"


Figure 1. NOAA's P-3 Orion hurricane hunter aircraft show off their new paint job for sponsor Maybelline.

New paint jobs for the hurricane hunters, and new additions to hurricane eye reports
The new sponsorship means that NOAA's two P-3 Orion hurricane hunter aircraft will be sporting new paint jobs. No longer will the aircraft carry NOAA's logo with the words, "U.S. Department of Commerce" on the sides; instead, the aircraft will carry the Maybelline logo, and sport lushly illustrated eyes done with Maybelline makeup on their tails. The sponsorship will also allow Maybelline to insert plugs for their products in the "Vortex" data messages that the aircraft transmit each time they penetrate the eye of a storm. A sample of Maybelline's new "Item Q" a hurricane hunter Vortex message is shown below:

URNT12 KWBC 102341
VORTEX DATA MESSAGE AL122015
A. 10/23:23:33Z
B. 33 deg 18 min N
071 deg 19 min W
C. 700 mb 3078 m
D. 42 kt
E. 059 deg 3 nm
F. 199 deg 56 kt
G. 060 deg 43 nm
H. 1000 mb
I. 8 C / 3070 m
J. 14 C / 3056 m
K. 8 C / NA
L. NA
M. NA
N. 1345 / 7
O. 1 / 4 nm
P. NOAA3 WB12A KATE OB 07
Q. ADD A SUBTLE SHIMMER, OR DARE TO GO BOLD WITH A FULL GLITTER MAYBELLINE EYE SHADOW

COMMENTS: MAX FL WIND 72 KT 113 / 49 NM 22:17:38Z
CNTR DROPSONDE SFC WIND 140 / 31 KTS

The new Item "Q" enhancements will be included for hurricane with both male and female names, since "we want to encourage people of all genders to experiment with Maybelline makeup", Maybelline president Greenberg said.

Happy April Fool's Day!

We'll have a new post by Monday--no fooling'.
Jeff Masters