By Pepper. So, Congress has voted to cut spending on student loans and health care, while Bush asks for greater spending in Iraq, and the Department of Homeland Security is spending our tax dollars on Rex the Mountain Lion? Rex the Mountain Lion has been getting lots of play. Shakes thinks he's hot, and Wonktor/Wonktoria's already seeing some human-animal hybrid issues.
But these types of cuddly campaigns are nothing new. According to the Ad Council-sponsored Smokey the Bear history site, Smokey was invented in 1944 as an indirect response to the fear of Japanese attacks during World War II. Launches from Japanese submarines almost set fire to Los Padres National Forest, so Smokey was designed to encourage people to put out potential fires that were of the submarine's making.
