Smokey Bear

What It Is

In 1944, the U.S. Forest Service and the War Advertising Council, now called the Ad Council, created a cartoon bear named Smokey to teach people how to prevent forest fires, and artist Albert Staehle painted the first Smokey poster. In 1947, the campaign introduced the line most people remember, “Only YOU can prevent forest fires,” and it stayed in use for more than fifty years. In 1950, a bear cub rescued from a wildfire in New Mexico’s Capitan Mountains became the living Smokey and found a home at the National Zoo in Washington, DC. In 2001, the words “forest fires” changed to “wildfires,” because huge fires were also burning in natural areas outside forests, and the campaign wanted to be clear it was about unplanned fires, not the controlled burns that land managers set on purpose. Smokey’s campaign is the longest-running public service advertising campaign in U.S. history.

Why It Matters

Smokey shows how a short line, repeated for decades, can stay in people’s heads. The 2001 change shows that writers keep checking whether their words are still exactly right, even after fifty years. The word “you” does a lot of the work, because it turns a huge problem into something one person can do something about. Even small words matter: songwriters added “the” to his name in a 1952 song to fit the rhythm, but his official name is still Smokey Bear. More than eighty years after he first appeared, Smokey is still the face of wildfire prevention.