Tuesday, June 3, 2014

And, We Won't Call Him "Smokey Bear"

From the May 23, 2014, Chicago Tribune ""WE won't call him 'Smokey Bear'" by Eric Zorn.

So, what do you call him?    "Your beloved, iconic fire-fighting bear has been skunked."

May 23rd marked the 62nd year after President Truman signed into law a bill allowing copyright protections for one Smokey Bear.  All the publicity materials since then have referred to him as Smokey Bear.  But yet, we, most of us anyway, continue to call him incorrectly "Smokey the Bear."  I know I am one of the "THE" folks.

"Yes, there's Kermit the Frog, Felix the Cat, Tony the Tiger.  But also Donald Duck, Garfield Goose and Bugs Bunny."

Some say part of the problem stems from Smokey's Forest Service signing off on the popular Eddy Arnold song in the early 1950s "Smokey the Bear, Smokey the Bear/Prowlin' and growlin' and a'sniffin' the air...."

Oh Well, What Do You Call Him?  --DaCoot

No comments: