Only who can prevent forest fires?

First off, happy International Talk Like a Pirate Day! Who knew it was September 19th? Glad I found that out before it was too late. But let's be serious, shouldn't every day be talk like a pirate day? Arrr!


I'm home sick from work today – just woke up tired – and while I've been spending some time navigating the clogged tubes of the internets, I came across this photo from the 2007 Albequerque Hot Air Balloon festival, which took place early last week (incidentally I've seen the Hot Air Balloon festival in person, in 2004 when I was living in Santa Fe.)

It seems like Smokey is making a bit of a comeback these days – he's featured in a new series of forest service commercials with the traditional "Only you can prevent forest fires" slogan, and still has his face plastered on state and national parks all across the country.

So what better way to have Smokey watch over the dried, tinderbox forests than to literally have him looking down on campers below, right? Well, sure it's a great idea, but the Smokey campaign went a little wrong.

Whoops! Reports say both people who were navigating the giant bear head through the skies weren't seriously injured in the crash. This does make the marketing scheme a little less effective, though, doesn't it? Just found this amusing and wanted to share. :)