"Bear", a television commercial known for and often referred to by its opening line "There is a bear in the woods", was created for the
1984 U.S. presidential campaign of
Republican Party candidate
Ronald Reagan. The commercial featured a
grizzly bear wandering through a forest, accompanied by narration suggesting that the bear could be dangerous and that it would be wise to be prepared for that possibility. In the final scene, a man appears and the bear takes a step back. The ad ends with a picture of Reagan and the tagline: "President Reagan: Prepared for Peace."
Without directly mentioning opponent
Walter Mondale
Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale (January 5, 1928 – April 19, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 42nd vice president of the United States from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter. A U.S. senator from Minnesota ...
,
defense spending
A military budget (or military expenditure), also known as a defense budget, is the amount of financial resources dedicated by a state to raising and maintaining an armed forces or other methods essential for defense purposes.
Financing militar ...
, or the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
(traditionally
symbolized by a bear), the ad suggested that Reagan was better prepared to recognize and deal with threats to global stability. Research by award-winning pollster
Richard Wirthlin
Richard Bitner ("Dick") Wirthlin (March 15, 1931March 16, 2011) was a prominent American pollster, who is best known as Ronald Reagan, Ronald Reagan's chief strategist, serving as his political consultant and pollster for twenty years, from 1968 t ...
detected the nation's overriding concern about the Soviet Union and how to communicate the solution through subtlety.
Details and full text of the narration
"There is a bear in the woods. For some people, the bear is easy to see. Others don't see it at all. Some people say the bear is tame. Others say it's vicious and dangerous. Since no one can really be sure who's right, isn't it smart to be as strong as the bear? If there is a bear."
The ad was written and narrated by ad man
Hal Riney
Hal Patrick Riney (July 17, 1932 – March 24, 2008) was an American advertising executive.
Biography
Founder of the advertising agency Hal Riney & Partners (now Publicis & Hal Riney), Riney was named #30 on the ''Advertising Age'' 100 people o ...
, who also wrote and narrated Reagan's resonant "
Morning in America" ad (titled "Prouder, Stronger, Better") as well as his "America's Back" ad. To many, his rich, avuncular voice represented wholesomeness and authenticity.
Reception
Initial
focus group
A focus group is a group interview involving a small number of demographically similar people or participants who have other common traits/experiences. Their reactions to specific researcher/evaluator-posed questions are studied. Focus groups are ...
screenings of the advertisement demonstrated that the audience found its message ambiguous, with some interpreting it as an indictment of
environmentalism
Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks ...
, others as a criticism of
gun control, but the underlying metaphor of "
peace through strength
"Peace through strength" is a phrase that suggests that military power can help preserve peace. It has been used by many leaders from Roman Emperor Hadrian in the second century AD to former US President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. The concept h ...
" remained strong. The advertisement itself had a very high recall rate amongst viewers, even those who were uncertain of its meaning.
The ad won praise from the political and advertising world. Republican strategist
Dan Schnur said of Riney's work: "Most political advertising hits viewers over the head, while his work makes just as strong a point but in a less confrontational and a more soothing manner."
"There is a bear in the woods" continues to be a popular phrase to invoke when a potential problem looms on the horizon, especially in political circles. The ad was copied in the
2004 presidential campaign of Republican
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
in an ad called "Wolves," which sought to draw parallels between terrorists and
timber wolves. However, that ad explicitly mentioned
terrorism
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
, opponent
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...
,
liberalism
Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...
, intelligence spending, and "America's defenses." In September 2015, Republican presidential candidate
Ted Cruz
Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from ...
created an ad titled "Scorpion" with an opening line, "There's a Scorpion in the desert". In the ad Cruz used the image of a scorpion to show the threat
Islamic terrorism posed to the United States. This ad was instantly recognized as a copy or an homage to Reagan's. Currently, the Washington Post's PowerPost email newsletter to subscribers, The Daily 202, often uses the phrase, "There still a bear in the woods," to introduce political topics.
Wirthlin's work on the first Reagan campaign, and particularly this ad, earned him the title "Adman of the Year" by ''Advertising Age
''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in m ...
'' and the ''Washington Post'' called Wirthlin the "Prince of Pollsters".
See also
* Morning in America
* 1984 United States presidential election
The 1984 United States presidential election was the 50th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 6, 1984. Incumbent Republican President Ronald Reagan defeated Democratic former Vice President Walter Mondale, in ...
References
External links
The Bear
— video of the original advertisement on YouTube
— comparison to Bush ad featuring wolves
cites "Bear" and "Prouder, Stronger, Better" as examples of effective and significant ads in contrast to recent ads
''Weekly Standard'': "Kerry Nation?"
- Fred Barnes calls "Bear" "devastating... clever and amusing" and uses it as an example of how George W Bush could deal with John Kerry in the 2004 election
{{Ronald Reagan
American political catchphrases
Bears in human culture
1984 neologisms
1984 works
1984 United States presidential election
Political campaign advertisements
Ronald Reagan
Metaphors referring to bears
Films directed by Hal Riney
American television commercials
1980s television commercials