Take a Bite Out of Crime ("McGruff the Crime Dog")

Why it works

A world-weary cartoon bloodhound in a trench coat, modelled partly on the TV detective Columbo, who first appeared on American television in February 1980 urging viewers to "take a bite out of crime". The Ad Council gave the brief to Dancer Fitzgerald Sample, where Jack Keil wanted a mascot that could do for crime what Smokey Bear had done for forest fires; he ended up voicing the dog himself, and the name McGruff came from a public naming contest. The campaign is studied because it answered a frightened public with simple, doable steps rather than more fear: lock your doors, ask a neighbour to watch the house, call the police about anything suspicious, and write off for a free booklet. A federally funded evaluation found that just over half of American adults recalled the ads, and that exposure was linked to changes in six of the seven prevention behaviours they promoted, most strongly joining local crime-prevention efforts. By 1981 more than a million booklets had been sent out.