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"There is a bear in the woods" was the opening line of an effective political campaign television commercial formally titled "Bear" (or "If There is a Bear"). The ad was part of the 1984 U.S. presidential campaign of Republican Party candidate Ronald Reagan. It featured a brown bear wandering through a forest accompanied by ominous narration that suggested that the Soviet Union (traditionally symbolized by a bear) was a serious threat to global stability which Ronald Reagan recognized and was better prepared to deal with than his opponent. Then the image shifted to a hunter facing the bear; the ad ended with a picture of Reagan and the tagline: "President Reagan: Prepared for Peace." The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view. ...
A television commercial (often called an advert in the United Kingdom) is a form of advertising in which goods, services, organizations, ideas, etc. ...
1984 (MCMLXXXIV) is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
The President of the United States (fully, President of the United States of America; unofficially abbreviated POTUS) is the head of state of the United States and the chief executive of the federal government. ...
The Republican Party, often called the GOP (for Grand Old Party), is one of the two major political parties in the United States, the other being the Democratic Party. ...
Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). ...
Binomial name Ursus arctos Linnaeus, 1758 Brown bear footprint The Brown Bear (Ursus arctos) is a species of bear that can reach weights of 130–700 kg (300–1500 pounds). ...
In fiction, a narrator is a voice or character who tells the story. ...
It is generally considered one of the most effective political campaign ads ever, mainly for its simple, iconic imagery and subtle, vaguely optimistic message. The narration never mentioned the Soviet Union, opponent Walter Mondale, defense spending, or nuclear warfare, the suggested underlying threat. Walter Frederick Fritz Mondale (born January 5, 1928 in Ceylon, Minnesota) is an American politician and member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. ...
Nuclear war, or atomic war, is war in which nuclear weapons are used. ...
Details
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 is 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, 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. [1]
Resonance The ad won ad industry awards and 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.[2] The ad was copied in the 2004 presidential campaign of Republican George W. Bush in an ad called "Wolves," which sought to draw parallels between terrorists and timber wolves. However, that ad explicitly mentioned terrorism, opponent John Kerry, liberalism, intelligence spending, and "America's defenses." Presidential election results map. ...
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States. ...
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The exact definition of terrorism is highly controversial. ...
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is the junior United States Senator from Massachusetts. ...
This article discusses liberalism as a major political ideology as it developed and stands currently. ...
Criticism Critics of the ad have suggested that it played on voters' fear of the Soviet Union (not to mention bears) without presenting any argument that the Soviet Union was actually a threat or that the candidate's opponent would weaken national defense.
Some suggest that the ad purposely set up cognitive dissonance by making claims ("There is a bear in the woods") and then admitting those claims were dubious ("if there is a bear") to get voters to act on their fear despite what they knew intellectually (Soviet leaders were not wild animals). And even the tagline "Prepared for Peace" over the image of a hunter confronting the bear presents an Orwellian oxymoron (there is no need to "prepare" for peace, much less prepare for peace by strengthening the military). Cognitive dissonance is a condition first proposed by the psychologist Leon Festinger in 1956, relating to his hypothesis of cognitive consistency. ...
Orwellian describes a situation, idea, or condition that George Orwell identified as being inimical to the welfare of a free-society. ...
An oxymoron (plural oxymora or oxymorons) (noun) is a figure of speech that combines two normally contradictory terms (e. ...
See also Presidential electoral votes by state. ...
External links - CNN AllPolitics Ad Archive — archive of political ads, including "Bear in the Woods" and "Morning in America"
- "Creating Reagan's image" — the story of how Hal Riney developed the ad campaign
- "If there is a wolf..." — comparison to Bush ad featuring wolves
- "Fuzzy Science" — contrasts the philosophy inherent in "Bear" with the George W. Bush approach to global warming
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