May 14, 2003

What's Blown Up, Doc?

CNN: Bugs Bunny to warn about land mines

The cartoon characters Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck will be used in public service messages educating Cambodians about land mines, the State Department said Wednesday.

The State Department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs and the U.S. Agency for International Development are developing the messages, which will be delivered in Khmer, the country's official language.

The topics will be "mine risk education" and "social reintegration" for land mine accident survivors. The ads feature "Rith," a Cambodian land mine survivor, created by Warner Bros. for the project.

Roland Eng, the Cambodian ambassador to the United States, and others were consulted. The State Department said Bugs Bunny was purposely chosen because "the rabbit is considered a kind and intelligent creature in Cambodian culture."

Well, as least they aren't using Wiley Coyote to warn kids about land mines, considering he's been blown up hundreds of times by them and other explosives while trying to catch the Road Runner. But then I can't help but think that Bugs doesn't come on the scene with clean paws, considering he's gotten Yosemite Sam, Daffy Duck, Wiley Coyote, and Elmer Fudd to immolate themselves a few hundred times.