Everyone else, as at previous parades, was encouraged to stay at home and watch the broadcast.

This contrasts with reports that he was seen nodding in agreement while watching the broadcast.

The two-and-half-hour event had the largest television audience ever up to that date: an estimated 400 million people around the globe watched the broadcast.

However, the cartoon segment drew wide opposition from people who regularly watch the broadcasts.

It emerged subsequently that the storyline had help to save the life of a viewer who was actually suffering from such poisoning at the very time of watching the broadcast.