The Bearable Ads

© CORBIS

Mostly, we see ads as annoying, manipulative, and fairly useless. There are some, however ~ and, granted, they make up an almost negligible percent of the total ~ that are beneficial to individuals and society as a whole. These are the pubic service ads. Off the top of my head, I can think of three that have had great success: the seat belt campaign, the anti-litter one, and of course, "only YOU can prevent forest fires." Here are some interesting facts about the third of those, from wisegeek.com:

Smokey Bear is America's longest running ad campaign. Created in 1944 in response to an increase in wildfires, Smokey Bear ads were used to prevent wildfires. The development of Smokey Bear came during World War II, as many men, including firefighters, were enlisted, and the general public was urged to be more diligent in order to prevent more wildfires. The Forest Service along with the Wartime Advertising Council and Association of State Foresters used posters and slogans to suggest people can prevent fires and win the war.

More about Smokey Bear:

• Prior to Smokey Bear, Disney allowed the use of a Bambi poster for forest fire prevention.


• Artist Albert Staehle (1899-1974) created the first Smokey Bear poster, which depicts the bear pouring water on an open campfire.


• In 1950, an American black bear was rescued during a wildfire in New Mexico, which burned 17,000 acres (69 km). The bear was named Hotfoot Teddy, but later changed to Smokey after the mascot.