Smokey's back -- and bi-gendered?

Smokey Bear's back with a new series of public service advertisements that encourage you to "Get Your Smokey On" by practicing fire safety habits. Odd feature of the main TV spot: Smokey gender morphs!

A girl metamorphoses into Smokey -- who warns some boys about forest fires in a girly voice -- before turning back into a girl. Then Smokey with a boy's voice comes on to say the usual "Only you can prevent wildfires" line.

I'm guessing the point of the ad is that everyone (women included!) can do like Smokey and educate others about forest fires. I don't remember this gender-morphing happening in the past though -- and Smokey really has a long past, having been around since 1944. Anyone remember a past campaign when Smokey was female?

We've certainly had a lot of fires in SoCal of late, so Smokey's advice, if not new, remains relevant. If you're bored at work, Smokey Bear's website features a vault with posters, as well as radio and TV spots since the '40s.