Smokey Bear

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“Remember......Only YOU Can Prevent Wildfires,” said Smokey Bear (Ad Council). This strong saying helped people understand that they are the ones who can make a difference. They are the ones that can actually help prevent wildfires. It was during spring 1950 when a major wildfire broke in New Mexico.The firefighters went to rescue the animals from the fire but due to chaos most of the animals ran towards the burning woods instead and lost their lives. The firefighters spotted a north american black bear clinging to a tree. This cub, was later named “Smokey”, as tribute to Joe Martin, that was a legendary firefighter. Later Smokey was taken to where he lived out the rest of his life “The National Zoo”. Smokey was then used for advertising campaign as an animated bear wearing a ranger hat, to inform people about fire prevention and forest fires. This ad campaign was very effective and it still is being used to make people aware about campfire …show more content…

Smokey Bears Ad Campaign educated the US public about the dangers in forest fires. Smokey's message of "Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires" was changed to "Remember.....Only You Can Prevent Wildfires" in 2001. The term wildfire applies to any uncontrolled, unplanned, unwanted outdoor fire, such as grass fires, range fires, brush fires. The change in tagline was in response to an outbreak of fires in natural areas other than forests, and in an effort to make Smokey’s message of forest conservation more contemporary. Within a few years of the campaign's kick-off, Smokey was not only on static illustrations but on the posters to broadcasts. During 1950s and '60s, a lot of radio ads featured Smokey having conversations about forest fire prevention with celebrities such as Bing Crosby, Dinah Shore and Roy Rogers (“70 Years of Smokey: The Story of America's Firefighting

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