Smokey Bear
Smokey Bear ( Smokey the Bear ) is an American advertising mascot of the United States Forest Service , which aims to encourage the population to avoid forest fires . It was created in 1944 for an advertising campaign with the slogan Smokey Says - Care Will Prevent 9 out of 10 Forest fires (Smokey says: Mindfulness prevents 9 out of 10 forest fires). The Advertising Council then coined the slogan Remember..Only YOU Can Prevent Forest Fires in 1947, which was changed to Only You Can Prevent Wildfires in April 2001 . According to a survey by the Advertising Council, about 96% of US adults recognize Smokey Bear and about 45% recognize the latest advertising campaign.
In 1952, song composers Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins wrote the anthem Smokey the Bear . The the was added to keep the rhythm of the song. It was through this song that Smokey Bear became known to many fans as Smokey the Bear , although its actual name was never changed. By the 1950s, the use of this name became widespread in both speech and text, so that it could even be found in at least one standard encyclopedia.
The fictional character Smokey Bear was created by art critic Harold Rosenberg . Smokey Bear is administered by the United States Forest Service, the National Association of State Foresters, and the Ad Council . His name and image are protected by the Smokey Bear Act of 1952 (16 USC 580 (p-2); 18 USC 711), a federal law.
The introduction of Smokey
Even if the US Forest Service was confronted with devastating large-scale fires long before the Second World War , fighting these became more and more important and urgent with the war. The forest service began to educate the Americans about the dangers of forest fires with colorful posters. Since most of the men fit for duty served in the army troops, they were not available to fight the forest fires on the west coast .
On August 13, 1942, the premiere of the Disney film Bambi was shown in New York. Shortly thereafter, Walt Disney gave the American government the right to use Bambi in public fire protection campaigns for a year. After that year a new symbol for fire protection was necessary and a bear was chosen. The name was inspired by Smokey Joe Martin, a hero of the New York City Fire Department who was burned and lost his eyesight in a 1922 rescue operation.
Smokey's first poster was published on August 9, 1944, which is also considered his anniversary. It shows Smokey in jeans and a wide-brimmed campaign hat while he is putting out a campfire with a bucket of water. This illustration is by Albert Staehle and with the text "Smokey says - Care will prevent 9 out of 10 fires forest" provided. Forest Service Agent Rudy Wendelin was also considered the full-time artist for the campaign in 1944 and was considered the "caretaker" of Smokey Bear until his retirement in 1973.
During World War II, the Japanese Empire considered wildfire as a possible weapon. During the Lookout Air Raids , air raids by Japan against the United States in September 1942, the Japanese military tried unsuccessfully to set fire to coastal forests in southwest Oregon . US planners also hoped that if the Americans knew that wildfire would harm the war effort, they would cooperate better with the forest service to prevent any kind of fire. The Japanese military renewed its wildfire strategies later in the war from November 1944 to April 1945. It fired between 9,000 and 10,000 balloon bombs on the United States, approximately 1,000 of which reached the United States. Five children and their teacher, Elyse Mitchell, were killed in one of the bombs near Bly, Oregon on May 5, 1945. These were the only victims of the attacks. The Mitchell Recreation Area was erected as a memorial to this incident .
In 1947 the slogan that belonged to Smokey Bear for more than five decades was coined: Remember ... only YOU can prevent forest fires . In 2001 was officially forest fires (forest fires) to wildfires (wildfire), in order to remember that other areas are as exposed as grass surfaces of the danger of fires.
Smokey as a popular character
Smokey Bear became a notable part of American popular culture in the 1950s. He appeared on radio shows and appeared in comics and cartoons.
In 1952, after Smokey Bear generated considerable commercial interest, a law called the Smokey Bear Act was passed. The law took the figure from common property and under the control of the Minister of Agriculture. It caused taxes to be incurred for the use of Smokeys, which were then used for further education on the subject of forest fire prevention.
A Smokey Bear doll was sold by the Ideal Toy Company from 1952 . The doll included a card for children to become a junior forest ranger . Half a million children signed up in just three years. Due to the large number of correspondence, Smokey even received its own zip code in April 1964 with 20252.
The first children's book was published in 1955, followed by many sequels and coloring books. Soon there were thousands of dolls, toys and other collectibles on the market.
During the 1950s and 1960s, the Ad Council sponsored radio advertising in which Smokey Bear had conversations with American celebrities such as Bing Crosby , Art Linkletter , Dinah Shore , Roy Rogers and many more.
Smokey's name and picture were loaned to the Smokey Bear Awards , which are presented by the American Forest Service. The awards are given for special services that serve to prevent wildfires and public relations work on fire prevention measures.
Adaptations
On Smokey's 40th anniversary, he was honored with a postage stamp depicting a young animal hanging from a burning tree. The advertisement for his 50th anniversary featured forest animals in the process of preparing a surprise birthday party for Smokey with a cake and candles. When Smokey is blindfolded, he smells the smoke without knowing that it is the candles for his birthday. So he uses his shovel to put out the fire. When he takes off his blindfold, he sees it was his birthday cake and apologizes.
On its 60th anniversary in 2004, Smokey has been celebrated in a number of ways, including a Senate resolution setting August 9, 2004 as Smokey Bears 60th anniversary. This decision called on the President to make a public announcement calling on the American people to mark the day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
According to Richard Earle, author of The Art of Cause Marketing , the Smokey Bear Campaign is one of the most powerful and long-lasting public service advertising campaigns. Earle describes Smokey as simple, strong and straightforward. He also writes: “Smokey represents a resident of the forests we visit and he is concerned about their preservation. Anyone who has seen Bambi in their childhood will realize how terrible a forest fire can be. But Smokey wouldn't run away because Smokey is strong. He stays and fights the fire if necessary, but he would much rather have it extinguished and covered so that he doesn't have to do it. "
Advertisements published from 2008 to 2011 depict Smokey rendered with CGI .
See also
Web links
- The official Smokey Bear - site of Advertising Council (English)
- United States Forest Service: Conservation Education - Smokey Bear
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Forest Fire Prevention . Advertising Council website. Accessed June 6, 2014. (English)
- ^ A b Campaign History . Smokey Bear website from the Advertising Council. Accessed June 6, 2014. (English)
- ↑ Wildfire Prevention - Smokey Bear ( Memento of the original from June 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Advertising Council website. Accessed June 6, 2014. (English)
- ^ The Story of Smokey . Smokey Bear website from the Advertising Council. Accessed June 6, 2014. (English)
- ^ "Fire prevention" article, World Book Encyclopedia, 1960 edition. (English)
- ↑ Harold Rosenberg Created Smokey the Bear . Accessed June 6, 2014. (English)
- ↑ Smokey Bear Act of 1952 (PDF) US Public Law 82-359, 66 Stat. 92. US Government Printing Office. May 23, 1952. p. 92. (English)
- ^ History of Smokey Bear . United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service website. Accessed June 6, 2014. (English)
- ↑ BOOKS OF THE TIMES; Their Battle Is Joined With an Inhuman Enemy . by Ralph Blumenthal. Accessed June 6, 2014. (English)
- ↑ The story of the creation of Smokey Bear ( Memento of the original from May 3, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . by Marjory Houston, Alber Staehle's wife. Retrieved June 9, 2014. (English)
- ↑ On This Day: Japanese WWII Balloon Bomb Kills 6 in Oregon . written by findingDulcinea Staff. Retrieved June 9, 2014. (English)
- ^ Forest Fire Prevention - "Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires" (1944 - Present) . Advertising Educational Foundation. Retrieved June 9, 2014. (English)
- ↑ Lawter, William Clifford Jr. Smokey Bear 20252: A Biography, Lindsay Smith Pub, June 1994 0964001713 (English)
- ↑ Wildfire Prevention (1944 - Present) . Ad Council. Retrieved June 9, 2014. (English)
- ↑ Smokey Bear awards . US Forest Service website. Retrieved June 9, 2014. (English)
- ^ Smokey Bear 1950 Radio Commercial . Smokey Bear website from the Advertising Council. Retrieved June 9, 2014. (English)
- ^ Congressional Record, Senate, July 22, 2004 . Books.google.com. Retrieved June 9, 2014. (English)
- ↑ Richard Earle, The Art of Cause Marketing, New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000, p. 230 (English)
