Craig Morgan Sparks Awareness of Fire Safety
Not to sound like a public service announcement, but did you know that 88 percent of wildfires are started by humans? And in the past 10 years, about 6.5 million acres of land were burned annually. So that rowdy little "Bonfire" that Craig Morgan sings about in his latest tune? It could actually be the culprit. Maybe that's why he teamed up with another celeb, Smokey Bear, to teach radio listeners how to put those fires out once the party's over. Bear's tune is the same one he's had since 1944: "Only you can prevent forest fires." Morgan admits that bonfires are built for good times, although he stresses, "But anybody who knows me knows that I'm a big outdoors guy, and any time you build any sort of fire outside, safety has to be your number one concern."
©2008 Country Music Television, Inc., a Viacom company. A division of
hotelmotel says:
So basically Smokey Bear has been reduced to teaming up with a B-level country star? A guy who hasnt been in the radio top 5 since Redneck Yacht Club in 2005? A guy who has one gold album and no platinum albums, even though he’s been releasing singles since at least 2000? A guy who is barely treading water and whose Greatest Hits CD has sold just about 100,000 copies?
I kinda feel sorry for Smokey Bear to learn that he has been reduced to this. I hope in the future he can find some bigger celebrities to team up with rather than b-level (at best) country stars.
Lets hope he can reverse his fortunes. If things keep getting this bad, he’ll have to team up with total has beens and never-was such as Chely Wright or Michael Peterson.
countryiscool says:
Wow hm, talk about bitter. I think Craig is just fine, given his taste and love for the outdoors. I could give a rip about the “numbers,” when I like what I DO hear.
hotelmotel says:
I am a bit bitter, countryiscool. Smoky Bear was once an icon, a celebrity.It just seems to me he should be teaming up with bigger celebrities than Craig Morgan. When people hear the ads, they will not know who Craig Morgan is, and that will take away from the power of the ads. Morgan may be known in country circles (though I bet a lot of listeners of Top 40 radio wouldn’t be able to name the songs he sings) but he isn’t much of a celebrity outside of that.
I agree with you that “I could give a rip about the ‘numbers’ when I like what I DO hear.” Me too. I would never let low sales get in the way of me liking an artist.
But my point isn’t about Morgan’s music or even liking music that doesn’t sell well. Its just that Craig Morgan isn’t exactly a top flight celebrity. And he doesn’t seem to generate that much excitement even when he gets publicity — his most popular album only went gold despite having 2 top 2 hits. And while his current single “Bonfire” is in the top 20 at top 40 radio, the album is selling extremely poorly. “Bonfire” isn’t translating into sales.
That said, Morgan has a decent voice and may be a nice guy. I may be being harsh about Morgan. But I just wish Smokey Bear could find a better known and better loved celebrity. Smokey Bear is an icon, Craig Morgan is not.
countryiscool says:
Well to me, it shouldn’t even matter if a celebrity endorses something like safety. That should be the issue, just so the message is still out there. I don’t buy crap because of a celebrity’s say so. And who knows, maybe the ad will spawn some interest in Craig’s music. There are many artists out there that are extremely talented but perhaps they don’t get as much promo or whatever… for someone not into the numbers, you obviously know about Craig’s. I don’t get into the #’s game, or even charts. I just listen to/buy whose ever music I like. Thanks for your opinion though. I still think Smokey is in good company.
hotelmotel says:
You make some good points. All of that aside, I wish both Smokey and Craig the best in the future! My post probably came off as harsh toward Craig, and I certainly don’t wish him any ill will. And hopefully there won’t be as many forest fires as a result of this ad campaign. I’m sure thats something everyone can agree upon.
countryiscool says:
That’s ok hm, I probably came off as defending Craig, and while I am a fan of most country, I think the message of outdoor safety depends more on getting the job done, than who does it. From all I read, Craig IS an avid outdoorsman so it makes sense he would be as good a spokesman as any.
Have a good day!
afirst says:
Wow, I almost swore off reading message boards underneath the story because they usually turn into personal grudges between the posters. But y’all actually kept it civil and even admitted to possible faults in your initial impulses! Forget Obama, THIS IS REAL HOPE!!!! Just for the record, I didn’t even know Smokey Bear was still kickin’ it, so this article helped me realize that! And I always thought Smokey was more of a critics’ favorite anyway. I pictured him hanging with the Mavericks and Dwight Yoakam, trying on each others’ hats and stuff.