By Heather Taylor<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most brand mascots tend to be created at tables and desks, inside of homes and advertising agencies \u2014 not airport lounges. But McGruff the Crime Dog<\/a>, the icon representing The National Crime Prevention Council<\/a>, has never been like most mascots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1979, Jack Keil<\/a> was just another stranded airport passenger trying to make his way home. Back then; Keil was a Creative Director at the ad agency Dancer Fitzgerald Sample (better known as Saatchi & Saatchi today). The agency was working alongside the Ad Council and the National Crime Prevention Council to create a public service campaign that educated Americans on how they could get involved in reducing crime. Through focus groups conducted by the agency, the overall attitude shared by participants was that you simply couldn\u2019t get rid of crime. There was just too much of it. While many felt helpless in the face of rising crime, they all agreed that if there was something simple they could do to help out they would.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This sparked an idea in Keil\u2019s mind. The strategy wasn\u2019t about eliminating crime altogether \u2014 truly an impossibility \u2014 but rather about adding up lots of little things that could empower Americans and their communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before Keil could make it back to the West Coast to elaborate on these thoughts, his plane broke down in Kansas City. It would be hours before his next flight and he used this time to brainstorm ideas for the campaign in the airport lounge. During this time, he reflected on the popularity of Smokey Bear<\/a>. What kind of character would work for this campaign? Keil considered elephants that could stomp at crime and lions that could roar at crime. He then realized that none of these animals could really get people motivated to help out \u2014 after all, you can\u2019t roar at something until it goes away. He reflected back on the little things again. People needed to take nips out of crime. No, not nips\u2026 Bites!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTake a bite out of crime!\u201d It was Keil\u2019s lightbulb moment and the birth of the famous slogan, which was rumored to be written on the back of an envelope<\/a>. After the catchphrase came the character \u2014 a cartoon dog, since the first animal most immediately think of that bites is a dog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n