A tube man, also known as a skydancer, air dancer, inflatable man and originally called the tall boy, is an inflatable fabric stick figure that gains a dynamic dancing or flailing motion and human-like shape when air is blown through its tubing by a fan. Since the creation of tube men for the 1996 Olympic Games, they have been used to advertise retail businesses to passing motorists. They also have been used in entertainment, as well as in agriculture for a pest deterrent similar to scarecrows.
The tube man concept was created for the 1996 Summer Olympics opening ceremony by Peter Minshall, a Trinidadian artist who sketched the idea while sitting in the bleachers of the Atlanta Stadium. Initially Minshall called the design "tall boy". [1] [2] [3] [4] He was inspired by the loose Calypso street dancers in his native Trinidad and Tobago. [5]
He commissioned the working prototype from the Israeli artist Doron Gazit who had more experience with inflatables, and Arieh "LouLou" Dranger, both based in Los Angeles. The 60-foot "tall boys" debuted at the Olympics. Several months later, Minshall says he was informed that Gazit had quietly begun patenting and profiting from sales of the inflatable two-legged figures. [3] [6] Minshall felt Gazit should have informed him. He considered legal action but ultimately decided to avoid the potential trouble and expense.
"I’m an island boy from Trinidad, I don’t know what the law is. My instinct tells me, that before he could do any such thing, it is his duty to consult with me."
– Minshall on the 99% Invisible podcast, 2014
On February 13, 2001, Gazit and Dranger were awarded U.S. Patent No. 6,186,857 for "Apparatus and Method for Providing Inflated Undulating Figures", with Gazit's company "Air Dimensional Design" listed as the assignee and the two hired artists as inventors. [7] Gazit licensed the patent to select companies and pursued copyright infringement cases against unlicensed sellers. Because Gazit's patent specified the tube man's two legs, single-leg models became widespread. [8] Gazit still officially licenses companies including Look Our Way, which sells the products as "Air Dancers" as well as the agricultural variation called "Air Rangers", which are customized with certain colors and an angry face. [9]
In the agricultural industry, tube men have been placed in fields as alternatives to scarecrows. [10] From 2012 to 2014, researchers from Michigan State University and Cornell University studied the inflatable tube man's effectiveness in deterring birds from fruit fields in a project funded by the United States Department of Agriculture. [11] A blueberry farmer in Michigan said "The birds just stay away from that dancing guy. They want nothing to do with him." [11] Homeowners in Lynn, Massachusetts have used them to deter geese. [12]
Many municipalities have prohibited tube men and similar inflatable advertising figures due to their visual ugliness and negative automotive safety effects due to distracting drivers from the road. These include including small to mid-sized municipalities across, for example, Connecticut and Massachusetts, as well as large cities like Houston, Texas. [13] [14] In 2014, the Inflatable Advertising Dealer’s Association was reportedly unaware how many bans existed. [9]
In 2014, Minshall said on the 99% Invisible podcast that he likes when he spots a "diminutive version" of the tube man in public: "I’m suddenly aware that they’re dancing up all the gas stations all over the planet. A part of me can’t help but feel delight that goodness, little fella, look at what you and your island have given to the world." [5] His collaborator Todd Gulick has described the unofficial versions as "an impoverished version of the device". [9]
Doron Gazit called single-tube variations "very ugly and very unattractive" in 2014. [9]
At the 1998 Grammy Awards, Ricky Martin performed in front of many inflated tubes. The 1998 Superbowl halftime show featured large tube men created by Gazit and Drake Diamond, founder of a manufacturer called "Tubeworks". [9]
A recurring character on the sitcom Family Guy , Al Harrington, is the owner, president, and CEO of "Al Harrington's Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm-Flailing Tubeman Emporium and Warehouse". [15]
In the 2022 film Nope , the protagonists used tube men as a method for detecting the presence of an alien.
WWE wrestler Bayley decorated her entrance with tube men, called Bayley Buddies, while in her "hugger" character. In October 2019 she destroyed the Bayley Buddies before revealing a new look. [16]
