Yo, Mama Bear: You've Been Eating My Porridge - bear safety campaign for Yosemite National Park - Brief Article

Brandweek, Feb 26, 2001 by Christine Bittar

City dwellers who prefer sticking with the smog and concrete for fear of getting a little too close to nature may now be able to relax a bit in the wild. Or, at least the folks who run Yosemite are hoping that'll be the case.

It seems the wild bears that make the national park their home have gotten a little too domesticated. Careless humans are to blame: access to human food causes the bears to lose their instinctive fear of humans and makes the bears more aggressive. Bears in Yosemite regularly damage cars, trailers, tents and camping equipment, while searching for more vittles. To educate park visitors about the importance of storing food in bear-proof lockers, the Yosemite Association helped devise the Wild Bear Project. The campaign communicates the message with brochures, a "Wanted Alive" bear poster, signage T-shirts, pins, caps, stuffed gift shop bears and educational bear trading cards, in the hopes of keeping Yosemite's bears wild.

If the campaign works, even diehard Manhattanites might be able to slow down and get in touch with their inner nature lover.

Program: Yosemite Wild Bear Project

Marketer: Yosemite Association, El Portal, Calif.

Agency: Michael Osborne Design, San Francisco

Key Players:

Yosemite: Steve Medley president;

MOD: Michael Osborne, president; Michelle Regenbogen, senior designer; Paul Kagiwada, senior designer