A portly Smokey Bear can be seen on television these days gyrating to a rap beat and wearing a gold chain, a baseball cap and sunglasses while belting out his fire prevention message.
Smokey's 50th birthday is approaching, but don't worry - he's not suffering a midlife crisis.Public service advertising experts say keeping up with the times is what made Smokey one of America's best-loved cartoon characters and one of advertising's longest running and most successful campaigns.
"Smokey has gotten more sophisticated," said Eva Kasten, executive vice president of the Advertising Council, the nonprofit public service campaign group that created Smokey a half-century ago.
"Smokey is adapting his message in a way that will still be appropriate to his target audience - kids."
For those more comfortable with the old Smokey, public service ads also still feature him in the traditional jeans and broad-brimmed park ranger's campaign hat.
The Agriculture Department's Forest Service is sponsoring an 11-month birthday celebration that will end in August. Until then, Smokey will appear at various events around the country, including the Tournament of Roses Parade and the Iditarod dog sled race in Alaska.
Children are more sophisticated these days, but they're not too advanced for Smokey and his trademark slogan, "Only YOU Can Prevent Forest Fires," said Kasten and Lynn Pisano-Pedigo, the Forest Service spokeswoman in charge of the celebration.
Young children erupt in squeals and cheers when he visits classrooms, they said.