• by Barbara Lippert , Columnist, April 25, 2024

Smokey Bear is lionized in “Decades,” his latest PSA, for good reason.

The moving spot compels us to take stock of Mr. Bear’s decades of professional forest-fire-fighting work.

At 80, Smokey’s moving slower, but seemingly walking taller and thinner, as a deeper-voiced, more natural bear than in previous incarnations.

Most of the spot takes place in the woods at night, so it’s hard to see in the dark, but S. Bear still sports a ranger’s hat and carries that signature shovel, although he’s now pants-free.

He’s also lost the “the” in his name, though apparently, he was born without it.

Still, he seems more thoughtful, and even reverential, as he plays back decades of his sometimes-powerful, sometimes-friendly “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires” messaging.

A deeply familiar icon of pop culture, Smokey’s image inspires nostalgia; this look back at how long he’s served at that job -- and how many fires he’s perhaps prevented --is a smart way to make an emotional connection. It made me a little teary, really.

As the star of the longest-running PSA campaign in history, (with the Forest Service working with agency FCB the entire time) Smokey’s first message appeared in 1944, promoting  the slogan "Smokey Says -- Care Will Prevent 9 out of 10 Forest Fires."

Wisely, that was compacted to the more memorable "Remember... Only YOU Can Prevent Forest Fires" in 1947, and stayed that way for almost six decades. In April 2001, the tagline was officially updated to "Only You Can Prevent Wildfires" in response to fire outbreaks in natural areas other than forests (such as grasslands.). Despite being transformed briefly in 2010 to “Get your Smokey On,” the message has always resonated: According to the Ad Council, 80% of outdoor “recreationists” correctly identified Smokey Bear's image, and 8 in 10 also recognized the campaign PSAs.

During my childhood, there was another famous cartoon bear wearing a hat: Yogi. But the bow-tied beari (named for Berra) was a picnic-basket-stealing wise guy, far more comedic than the serious-minded Smokey. (The e was put in his first name intentionally to differentiate it from the adjective “smoky.”)

“For decades, I’ve taught you everything I know” he says in the spot, as we see recreated black-and-white outdoor scenes which then turn to color. One of the scenarios brings back a young, hippie-type couple from the ‘60s at their campfire. He walks us through the decades, up to contemporary forest scenarios. In a voiceover (Brian Tyree Henry is the new, velvety voice), he carefully explains some of what he’s taught: "how to safely build a fire, how to control the flames, what to do with hot coals.”

The pacing is slow, and his message is backed by forest sounds and piano, so it builds to what's almost an elegy.

By the end, he addresses the screen with “But I can only teach wildfire prevention… only you can prevent wildfires.”

An end card reads, “For 80 years, Smokey Bear has lived within us all.”  Sniff.

And may he continue.

With his long years of service, Smokey’s credibility is matchless -- with or without pants.