Smokey Bear has been a favorite advertising mascot of mine since childhood (probably because we were a camping family), as well as a recurring topic on this blog. So when I saw the above page from the July 13, 1972 Journal with a small Smokey ad used as a space filler, I knew I had to post it.
When I was a kid, you often saw Smokey Bear PSAs tossed in with the Saturday morning cartoons, or early on Sunday morning TV. I think stations were provided the commercials for free, and could air them wherever they wanted.
You don't see Smokey too often today (at least not on GRIT TV, which I watch all the time). When he does appear, he's advocating the prevention of wildfires, not forest fires. But fifty years ago, he was still on message, and a simple closeup of his face accompanied by his tagline was a powerful reminder to be careful in the woods with matches, cigarettes, etc.
Smokey is still a busy bruin in the 2000s. The current campaign (which you can see on his website), seems to be moving away from the idea of Smokey as a real, live bear that wears pants and carries a shovel. Instead, he is presented as a digital entity, literally a floating, disembodied head that speaks in (ugh) celebrity voices, thus destroying the image that was carefully built and reinforced over the last 75+ years.
1 comment:
interesting to look at the classifieds and see Employment divided into MALE and FEMALE categories... my how times have changed..
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