Smokey Bear
The social voice and real-time response for the longest-running PSA campaign in U.S. history.
Impact Area
What We Did
For over a decade HelpGood has been the voice of Smokey Bear online, providing social media strategy, content production, and community management for the campaign.
300m
Media Impressions
10m
website visits per year
5.2m
Bear Hugs
The challenge
Smokey Bear is a beloved American icon. While most brands might hibernate after 80 years, Smokey is needed now more than ever. More Americans are moving closer to the wildland urban interface, and climate change is increasing the intensity, size, and number of wildfires. With nearly 9 out of 10 wildfires caused by humans, the U.S. Forest Service, National Association of State Foresters, and the Ad Council challenged HelpGood to help Smokey inspire a new generation of Americans to act more responsibly with fire.
Our solution
Our strategy is simple—put our beloved bear everywhere. We’ve grown Smokey Bear’s total social pawprint by almost 2000% to 550,000 Smokey fans. We keep the social content flowing on a daily basis as no one can ever get enough!
Smokey is a well-rounded bear so he also likes to get out. He’s appeared at hundreds of state fairs, livestreamed from SXSW, floated in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and traveled to the International Space Station with NASA.
Everywhere Smokey goes is a moment, and it’s been our honor to grow his legacy of preventing wildfires since 1944.
#OnlyYou
Our real-time response strategy has resulted in billions in earned media. Whether he’s inserting himself into Pharrell’s Grammy Ranger Hat or joining his friends in BarbieLand, he’s always welcomed to the party.
