Celebrities Voice a New Campaign in Honor of Smokey Bear's 75th Birthday

In 1944 posters appeared across America featuring a black bear amp8212 sporting jeans and a ranger hat amp8212 pouring a pail of water upon an unattended campfire Each was emblazoned with a memorable tagline quotSmokey saysamp8230 Care will prevent 9 out of 10 forest firesquot This endearing figure would go on to inspire vigilance and fire safety in generations of campers and nature lovers and continues to remain prevalent to this day as the longestrunning PSA advertising campaign in US historyDuring the tail end of World War II just after the tragedy of Pearl Harbor Japanese submarines blew up an oil field off the coast of California amp8212 one that was located precariously close to Los Padres National Forest The fear of additional attacks causing irreparable damage and loss of life and the fact that most ablebodied men were still abroad fighting the war made it clear that the responsibility fell on local communities to keep forests and wildlife safe from humanmade wildfires Those realities led to a clarion call to unite locals around the idea of forest fire prevention So the Forest Service teamed up with the Association of State Foresters and the Ad Council then known as the War Advertising Council to create the Cooperative Forest Fire Prevention CFFPThough the public service advertising PSA posters initially created by the CFFP featured more politically charged themes with taglines such as quotForest Fires Aid the Enemyquot and quotOur Carelessness Their Secret Weaponquot it was only a matter of time before their collaborative efforts yielded a softer approach that featured wildlife In fact Smokey Bear wasn39t the first critter to grace this ad campaign that honor was actually held by a handful of more cuddly characters from Disney39s Bambi Since the famous icons were only loaned to the campaign for a short period of time the CFFP soon needed to come up with their own mascot They decided that they needed a mascot amp8212 one that embodied the power and majesty of the wilderness but also appeared friendly A bear was a natural fit and thus Smokey Bear came to beSmokey Bear39s wildfire prevention campaign amp8212 with its enduring message of quotOnly you can prevent wildfiresquot amp8212 has had a dramatic impact since its introduction in 1944 This progress continues today with an approximate 14 percent reduction in the average number of humancaused wildfires from 2011amp82112018 compared to the previous 10 yearsOver the years this ursine icon has been featured in everything from print ads to outofhome campaigns to TV commercials and still makes appearances in classrooms across America to continue to spread his message of keeping forests safe from humancreated wildfiresMost recently in honor of Smokey39s 75th birthday the Ad Council released a new PSA featuring an animated emoji voiced by Betty White Other celebrities such as Stephen Colbert Jeff Foxworthy and Al Roker have also lent their voices to the campaign backing Smokey39s famous messageDespite his age Smokey Bear continues to maintain relevance in the modern world of advertising and is considered a pop culture icon He39ll even be making his return for the first time in decades to the Macy39s Thanksgiving Day Parade this year where generations of campers and nature lovers can see him floating above New York CityThis wildfire prevention icon has most assuredly aged well as the outcome of the longest advertising campaign in the history of the United States speaks for itself Overall the campaign39s messages have yielded more than 16 billion of donated media support the Ad Council states The PSAs have led 85 percent of outdoor recreationalists to believe that they are capable of preventing devastating wildfires Among those who know Smokey Bear 75 percent believe that the pop culture icon makes a wonderful role model for young children And boy does he know how to speak to younger audiences Smokey Bear has created a social media presence for himself over the past decade reaching out to his thousands of followers with information resources and PSAs on the dangers of humancreated forest firesSmokey Bear has withstood the test of time and will continue appearing across television screens magazine pages and in classrooms throughout the country It is almost assured that we amp8212 and every generation after us amp8212 will continue hearing his iconic catchphrase even as the advertising landscape continues to evolve Only you can prevent wildfiresClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Celebrities Voice a New Campaign in Honor of Smokey Bear's 75th Birthday

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Hayley Virgil

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Celebrities Voice a New Campaign in Honor of Smokey Bear's 75th Birthday

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Hayley Virgil

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