Who among you remembers Vince and Larry the crash dummies? Credited with saving 85,000 lives, they helped increase seat belt use to 67% during their commercials from 1985 to 1999.

How about Woodsy Owl, who promoted composting, or McGruff, the crime prevention dog? Sound familiar?

Smithsonian magazine says, “You know there’s trouble when the federal government gets into cartooning.”

The longest running cartoon slogan belongs to Smokey Bear: “Only you can prevent forest fires.” The War Advertising Council introduced Smokey in 1944 with a picture of him pouring water on a campfire and saying, “Ca...