Is This Year's 4th on Fourth Parade Powered by Patriotism......or by Spooge?

Picon asked our meme artist to power Mike’s Reno Report, who entered his electric bicycle in the parade, to be powered by Spooge.

Picon Ponders: Was the Fourth on the Fourth Parade Really About Patriotism... or Just Marketing?

Picon ponders whether this entire 4th on Fourth parade saga was really about celebrating America—or whether patriotism was simply the backdrop for one giant marketing campaign.

Let's start with Eddie Lorton.

After struggling to generate media attention during his mayoral campaign, Eddie found a winning headline by appearing before the Reno City Council championing the return of the parade. He even publicly offered to pay whatever the City couldn't raise to make it happen.

Then came the primary election.

After losing, that promised check seemed to disappear right along with the campaign. Yet many of Eddie's loyal supporters don't appear bothered by that. Apparently, making a public promise is optional—as long as your favorite candidate made it.

Then there's Devon Reese.

Devon eventually became a supporter of the parade too. Picon can't help but wonder if that enthusiasm arrived around the same time polling reportedly showed him sitting in fourth place in the mayor's race. Politics has a funny way of creating bipartisan agreement when there's a camera nearby. If a goose in a wind tunnel had suddenly become Reno's hottest issue, we're fairly certain Devon would have found a way to support that too.

And finally, we have Hillary Schieve, who is reportedly serving as Grand Marshal.

Picon wonders if she may be the biggest winner of them all.

Imagine the promotional value: riding through downtown as Grand Marshal, waving to thousands while capturing endless photos and video for social media. That's the kind of marketing campaign many businesses would love to have.

Could those images eventually find their way onto the social media pages for Spooge sunscreen? We have no idea—but if they do, that's exposure money can't easily buy.

Meanwhile, Michael Leonard of Mike’s Reno Report - will be riding in the parade as well.

We jokingly offered to buy him a bottle of Spooge sunscreen to protect him from those Nevada rays. Michael simply rolled his eyes, took another sip of what appeared to be a perfectly respectable bottle of wine, and carried on.

So we leave you with one final question.

Is this year's 4th on Fourth parade powered by patriotism...

...or by Spooge?

Stay tuned. We’ll know soon enough.