McGruff Takes a Bite Out of Bullying

Well first, before I start talking about today's topic, I am very happy and grateful to Patch for inviting me to blog. I am very excited to talk about various topics, but viewed through the filter of Animation, Comics and Pop Culture. You know, important stuff!

I come to the topic of animation and comics as an avid geek, a fan, and also a professional who doesn't really know how to do anything else. This has led to some really fun career opportunities over the years. But every so often, serious topics are dealt with, and McGruff The Crime Dog  is a character that was designed to address serious stuff with kids and grownups.

Even though it was a serious topic to tackle (BULLYING), I was thrilled when my partners and I were given the assignment to bring McGruff the Crime Dog up to date, and get him in front of today's kids. McGruff was created in 1980 by Jack Kyl, a Creative Director at Dancer Fitzgerald Sample, (Which became Saatchi & Saatchi) the Ad Agency for the National Crime Prevention Council. This was a time when CRIME was seen as something that could not be PREVENTED. A criminal could only be deterred by punishment. But in 1980 there was a desire to give the public simple tips about how crime COULD be prevented; leaving your lights on, keeping an eye out for your neighbors, or even to form a Neighborhood watch. Connected communities were seen as a positive deterrent to crime.

Over the years McGruff has been used as a community outreach ambassador for various Police Organizations, as a Mascot to deliver the "Just Say No to Drugs" campaign, and now he was being asked to step up and talk about a very serious topic; BULLYING.

When an Ad Agency is briefed on an assignment, an enormous amount of research is heaped upon the unsuspecting Creative Department. This assignment was no different. It was explained to us that bullying was a lead indicator of future anti-social behaviors, both for the bully and the bullied. It was also explained to us that the behavior was largely unseen by grownups, and very difficult for grownups to deal with. Bullying is at its core, about an uneven power relationship, which sounds odd when discussing elementary school kids. But it is still true. Cliques of kids form early, and some kids stand alone. Kids needed to be able to see that they are NOT alone, and that the behavior is unacceptable. There are no bad kids, only bad behavior, and even a bully can be converted.

Since my team and I are huge fans of things like Schoolhouse Rock and Sesame Street,  which tried to address educational issues in a way that did not abandon the need to entertain and keep a child's focus. We aimed to do this in the short animated film that is part of this post. At this point, I guess I should let you the reader, decide if we succeeded or not. And if you have elementary school-aged children, from 1st to 5th grade or so, then this short cartoon is designed for them. It is intended to be thought provoking for kids, but in a way that doesn't seem preachy. I hope it works that way for you and your kids.

We are currently working on a comic book release of McGruff, focusing on this and some other serious issues for kids. As soon as it's done, I'll be back with a post. I'll also try to post some really fun cartoons, from the past and the present, with some commentary and context, as part of a regular series. Come back soon, and enjoy the show. 

Download the movie