McGruff

2026-11-01T16:52:55Z

24.72.216.25:

[[File:Take A Bite Out Of Crime.jpg|right|thumb|McGruff original poster]]
[[File:McGruff-and-Scruff.png|right|thumb|McGruff and Scruff 2D designs]]
[[File:McGruff-3D.png|right|thumb|McGruff 3D design. Art by [[Aleksey Sheludchenko]].]]
'''McGruf''', also known as '''McGruff the Crime Dog''', full '''Scruff McGruff the Crime Dog''', is a [[funny animal]] [[mascot]] for the American [[W:National Crime Prevention Council|National Crime Prevention Council]].

== Overview ==

McGruff was created by the [[W:Madison Avenue|Madison Avenue]] [[W:Advertising|advertising agency]] [[W:Dancer Fitzgerald Sample|Dancer Fitzgerald Sample]]'s ('''DFS'''/'''DFS-Dorland''') [[W:Advertising agency|advertising executive]] [[Jack Keil]] (who had previously worked with on the ''[[W:Keep America Beautiful|Keep America Beautiful]]'' campaign plus also [[voiced]] the [[character]]), through the [[W:Ad Counci|Ad Council]] and later the National Crime Prevention Council to increase crime awareness and personal safety in the United States.

== History ==

The Ad Council was first approached by the [[W:Department of Justice|US Department of Justice]] in 1977 to create a public campaign to engage the public in reducing crime. The [[W:FBI|FBI]] director recommended a campaign playing on fears to convince citizens to take personal safety steps, but the Ad Council rejected their proposal believing it would largely be ignored by an already frightened public. However, the Ad Council was still interested in a crime prevention campaign.

[[W:Leo Perlis|Leo Perlis]], a member of the Ad Council's Public Policy Committee, heard the proposal and liked the idea, so met with FBI Director [[W:Clarence M. Kelley|Clarence M. Kelley]], the head of the [[W:National Council on Crime and Delinquency|NationalUS Council on Crime and Delinquency]] and a board member of the [[W:National Sheriffs' Association|US National Sheriffs' Association]], to form a coalition to direct the ad campaign.

The Ad Council assigned Dancer Fitzgerald Sample the creative responsibilities. He finalized the design in 1979 and debuted in 1980 with a series of [[W:Public service announcement|public service announcement]]s ( "''[[W:Department of Justice|Take A Bite Out Of Crime]]''") educating citizens on personal security measures, such as locking doors and putting lights on timers, to reduce crime.

His name was selected as part of a nationwide contest in July 1980, and he is best known for appearing on safety posters with his initial slogan and their alternates ("''Take A Bite Out Of Cyber Crime''").

== Design and use ==

McGruff is an [[anthropomorphic]] [[funny animal]] [[bloodhound]] in a [[W:Trench-coat|trench-coat]]. His nephew, '''Scruff''' sometimes accompanies him.

McGruff's [[costume]]s are used by [[W:Law enforcement in the United States|US police]] outreach efforts, often with children. Giant, [[inflatable]] McGruffs are available for crime prevention events.<ref>[http://ncpc.org/mcgruff/inflatable.php Inflatable McGruff] on the [[W:National Crime Prevention Council|National Crime Prevention Council]] website. Retrieved October 24.</ref>

== McGruff and furry ==

Although not a commonly used character within the [[furry fandom]], he is still subject to art designs ranging from [[W:Content rating|PG]] to [[adult|adult media]] (including those subject to the [[W:Internet meme|Internet Rules]], such as [[W:Rule 34|Rule 34]] ["''If it exists, there is [[porn]] of it. No exceptions.''"]).

== References ==
<REFERENCES/>

== See also ==

* [[W:McGruff the Crime Dog|McGruff the Crime Dog]] on [[Wikipedia]]

== External links ==

* [http://www.mcgruff.org/ Mcgruff.org] - McGruff official website
* [http://www.ncpc.org/AllAboutMcGruff/ McGruff the Crime Dog] on the [[W:National Crime Prevention Council|National Crime Prevention Council website]]
* [http://www.mascotstalker.com/mcgruff/ McGruff the Crime Dog] on the [http://www.mascotstalker.com Mascot Stalker]
* [https://x.com/mcgruffatncpc McGruff] on [[Twitter|X]]
* [https://www.instagram.com/mcgruffatncpc/ McGruff] on [[Instagram]]
* [https://www.deviantart.com/tag/McGruff McGruff] search results in [[DeviantArt]]
* [https://www.furaffinity.net/search/?q=McGruff McGruff] search results in [[Fur Affinity]]

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{{Wikipedia|McGruff}}
[[Category:Mascots]]
[[Category:Dog characters]]
[[Category:1980 births]]

WikiFur - User contributions [en]

McGruff