• by Larissa Faw , June 3, 2019

Move over Smokey, Bigfoot is taking a starring role in the Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal (OSFM)'s fire prevention campaign. 

Developed in house, the OSFM's Fire & Life Safety Services Division served as the creative force behind the Bigfoot concept, including the idea, hashtag/tagline, materials and core messages. The unit then worked with the Oregon Department of Administrative Services, Publishing and Distribution to develop graphic design services to render campaign designs. 

The images show Bigfoot hiking, fly fishing, or four-wheeling, alongside a wildfire safety message and the hashtag #BelieveInFireSafety. Posters, mobile phone designs and desktop wallpaper shots as well as a full suite of social media images and a shirt design are available for free at the OSFM's website.

During the summer, the OSFM will hold a social media contest giving away Bigfoot T-shirts, each highlighting different Bigfoot images each week. Later, Bigfoot’s image will appear on highway billboards on popular travel routes in the state to further extend this message.

OSFM anticipates many Oregonians will soon be sharing the campaign to “believe in fire safety" after its first batch of messaging of Bigfoot-themed coasters and stickers proved to be hot items statewide. 

OSFM has had an "overwhelmingly popular and positive" response from Oregonians, Oregon media, and social media users on both Facebook and Twitter, states Public Affairs Specialist Rudy Owens. Bigfoot is the perfect spokesperson as a protector of the wilderness and his “home." 

Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch, has been part of pop culture for decades and Oregon appears to be one of its favorite haunts given the number of “sightings” in the state over the years.