ESPN wrapped positive safety messages into its "Safety First" campaign geared towards promoting the 2001 Winter X Games. The animated campaign entertains at the same time as it highlights the perils of being irresponsible whilst "shredding" or performing some other "extreme" action.

Wieden + Kennedy, New York creatives Kim Schoen and Kevin Proudfoot worked with director Geoff McFetridge of LA's Champion Graphics to put together three 30-second spots, "Bear," "Bunny" and "Squirrel." Each spot features cute animals engaged in extreme sports; each ad showcases another threat posed by carelessness in the snow.

"Bear" features a number of skiing bears, including one foolhardy alpine mammal whose flagrant scissor waving results in his own decapitation. "Bunny" portrays a snowmobile race in which one vain little rabbit's jaunty scarf is his undoing: it gets caught in his vehicle's treads and he is bloodily dismantled.

To add insult to injury, his severed head is bumped by another sled and his eye is punctured by a branch. The final spot, "Squirrel" shows a triumphant squirrel moto-cross rider come to a halt at the end of a grueling race; rather than wait for champagne, the cocky rodent chugs a healthy portion of petroleum from his bike and falls off, stone dead.

Copywriter Proudfoot points out that the safety messages offered (such as "Do Not Drink Gasoline") are comedically enhanced by the fact they ignore the real dangers faced by X Games competitors.

"Instead it focuses on these inane, almost folkloric safety tips we've been exposed to when growing up. Beyond that they are funny to watch; you don't have to get too deep to understand," says Proudfoot. He and Schoen worked closely with McFetridge to concept and create the ads, which, in their use of bloody animated anthropomorphic violence, push certain boundaries of good taste.

"People were really nervous about it but there is something about a squirrel being poked by a stick. They are so unrealistic. People picture worse things in their minds but they are so harmless," says Schoen. The cute meets nasty irony of the spots came together following a week of brainstorming in Los Angeles on the topic of devastating extreme deaths for the fuzzy athletes.