Oh, Woodsy the Owl. Whatever became of ye? And what of thy friend and companion in the war to save the woodlands, Smokey Bear? Josh Levin's slideshow explains, blaming deregulation (public service ads are now voluntary) and, ironically, the mascots' own ubiquity. Overexposure hastened their descent into cliché.
The commercial on the last slide is perhaps the creepiest bit of television you'll ever see.
Levin would probably enjoy checking out the Christian classic Character Sketches, which held up Is as a guide to Ought long before we knew that geese can be gay.
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