# Wellbee > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Wellbee > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Wellbee.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellbee > Source revision: 1322735832 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|1960s American public health mascot}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}} {{Infobox advertising | name = 'Wellbee' | image = Wellbee, 1963.svg | caption = Drawing of Wellbee from a 1963 poster | agency = [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention](/source/Centers_for_Disease_Control_and_Prevention) | client = | market = [Unvaccinated Americans](/source/Vaccine_hesitancy) | language = English | media = | runtime = | product =Cartoon character | released = 1962 | slogan = | writer = | director = | music = | starring = | production company = | producer =[Harold M. Walker](/source/Harold_M._Walker) | country =United States | budget = | preceded_by = | followed_by = | website = }} '''Wellbee''' was an American cartoon character and [public health](/source/public_health) mascot that first appeared in 1962. He was an anthropomorphic [bumblebee](/source/bumblebee) created by Hollywood artist [Harold M. Walker](/source/Harold_M._Walker) at the request of [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention](/source/Centers_for_Disease_Control_and_Prevention)'s (CDC) public information officer George M. Stenhouse. The character became CDC's national symbol of public health at the time, and was widely used to promote [immunization](/source/immunization) and other [public health](/source/public_health) campaigns in the United States following the Vaccination Assistance Act of 1962. ==Origin== Wellbee, a standing cartoon character bumblebee with a smiling round face representing "well-being", was created by the Hollywood artist [Harold M. Walker](/source/Harold_M._Walker), at the request of CDC's public information officer George M. Stenhouse.{{cite web |title=Wellbee, the 'health educator's friend' {{!}} David J. Sencer CDC Museum {{!}} CDC |url=https://www.cdc.gov/museum/history/wellbee.html |website=www.cdc.gov |access-date=January 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220109141929/https://www.cdc.gov/museum/history/wellbee.html|archive-date=January 9, 2022|language=en-us |date=April 30, 2021}} Referred to by the CDC as "he", Wellbee was first revealed in ''[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution](/source/The_Atlanta_Journal-Constitution)'' newspaper on March 11, 1962, following a press release that described the character as "a pleasant-faced, bright–eyed, happy cartoon character, who is the personification of good health." The purpose of the character was the promotion of [preventive health](/source/preventive_healthcare) measures and the importance of vaccination.{{cite book |last1=Conis |first1=Elena |title=Vaccine Nation: America's Changing Relationship with Immunization |date=2015 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |isbn=978-0-226-92376-5 |pages=48–49 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=To2RBAAAQBAJ&dq=wellbee&pg=PA49 |language=en}} At the time, the US government had substantially increased funding and new programs in public health, and with the support of the [Vaccination Assistance Act of 1962](/source/Vaccination_Assistance_Act_(1962)), sponsored the CDC in its educational efforts, the symbol of which became Wellbee.{{cite book |last1=Altenbaugh |first1=Richard J. |title=Vaccination in America: Medical Science and Children's Welfare |date=2018 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=Switzerland |isbn=978-3-319-96348-8 |page=257 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Aj1nDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Wellbee%22+bumblebee&pg=PA257 |language=en |chapter=14. The complexities of mass immunization culture}} ==Campaigns== The marketing campaign by the CDC planned appearances of Wellbee at public health events and in leaflets, newspapers and posters, and on radio and television, beginning with promoting [Sabin's oral polio vaccine](/source/Polio_vaccine) in Atlanta and across the United States.{{cite book |last1=Cliff |first1=Andrew |last2=Smallman-Raynor |first2=Matthew |title=Oxford Textbook of Infectious Disease Control: A Geographical Analysis from Medieval Quarantine to Global Eradication |date=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-959661-4 |page=98 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AqhDZkWJjPQC&dq=wellbee+polio&pg=PA98 |language=en}} Local health departments used the character Wellbee. In Atlanta and Tampa, a smiling Wellbee appeared on posters encouraging children to "drink the free polio vaccine", stating it "tastes good, works fast, prevents polio". In Chicago, its image appeared on [pin-back button](/source/pin-back_button)s and billboards. A person dressed as Wellbee posed with baseball players [Bill Monbouquette](/source/Bill_Monbouquette), [Dick Radatz](/source/Dick_Radatz) and [Eddie Bressoud](/source/Eddie_Bressoud) of the [Boston Red Sox](/source/Boston_Red_Sox) at [Fenway Park](/source/Fenway_Park).{{cite book |last1=Kelley |first1=Bob |title=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |date=2015 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |location=Charleston, South Carolina |isbn=978-1-4671-1320-5 |page=36 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qW1VBgAAQBAJ&dq=wellbee+wash+hands&pg=PA36 |language=en |chapter=3. The 1950s: the "war baby" grows up}} Also in Boston, Wellbee stood alongside mayor [John F. Collins](/source/John_F._Collins), who had been affected by polio. The bee visited schools in Honolulu, appeared on a [dog sled](/source/dog_sled) in Anchorage, and in Dallas it cautioned against being "Illbee". Subsequent immunization campaigns included promoting vaccines against [diphtheria](/source/diphtheria) and [tetanus](/source/tetanus), and the character was used to emphasize the benefits of [hand-washing](/source/hand-washing), exercise, [oral health](/source/oral_health), and [injury prevention](/source/injury_prevention), becoming familiar to children and the national symbol of public health.{{cite book |last1=Orr |first1=Tamra B. |title=Polio |date=2011 |publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc |isbn=978-1-4358-9436-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0MYOVb-u4BsC&dq=wellbee+polio&pg=PA55|page=54 |language=en}} In 1964 posters encouraged the vaccinated to get [boosted](/source/Booster_dose). ==Effect== Within a year, Stenhouse noted that "Wellbee, the 'health educator's friend', had a busy year. He was particularly active in promoting community polio programs. He spoke Spanish in New Mexico; he came to life in costume in Hawaii and led a parade." As a result of the Vaccination Assistance Act, 50 million people were vaccinated against polio between 1962 and 1964 and seven million children received the [vaccine](/source/DPT_vaccine) that prevents diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough, resulting in a fall in cases of polio and diphtheria. In 1965 the Vaccination Assistance Act was extended. Several vaccine mascots have been created since Wellbee.{{cite news |last1=Berger |first1=Miriam |title=The weird and wacky mascots promoting coronavirus vaccines around the world |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/02/11/coronavirus-vaccine-mascots/ |access-date=January 8, 2022 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=February 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220108085710/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/02/11/coronavirus-vaccine-mascots/ |archive-date=January 8, 2022}} According to the director of the [Vaccine Confidence Project](/source/Vaccine_Confidence_Project) at the [London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine](/source/London_School_of_Hygiene_%26_Tropical_Medicine), [Heidi Larson](/source/Heidi_Larson), vaccine mascots are "humorous, playful", and it "makes it seem less clinical, less government-driven, less 'You have to take this{{' "}}, thereby engaging young and older groups. ==Gallery== Public health posters featuring Wellbee: File:WellbeeCowboy7225.jpg|1962{{cite web |title=Details - Public Health Image Library(PHIL) |url=https://phil.cdc.gov/details.aspx?pid=7225 |website=phil.cdc.gov |access-date=8 January 2022}} File:Polio vaccine poster.jpg|1963{{cite web |title=Details - Public Health Image Library(PHIL) |url=https://phil.cdc.gov/details.aspx?pid=7224 |website=phil.cdc.gov |access-date=8 January 2022}} File:BoosterWellbee7221.jpg|1964{{cite web |title=Details - Public Health Image Library(PHIL) |url=https://phil.cdc.gov/details.aspx?pid=7221 |website=phil.cdc.gov |access-date=8 January 2022}} File:Wash your hands poster CDC - Wellbee.jpg|1964{{cite web |title=Details - Public Health Image Library(PHIL) |url=https://phil.cdc.gov/details.aspx?pid=7222 |website=phil.cdc.gov |access-date=8 January 2022}} ==See also== * [Zé Gotinha](/source/Z%C3%A9_Gotinha) ==References== {{Reflist}} Category:Advertising campaigns Category:1962 in the United States Category:American advertising slogans Category:Health campaigns in the United States Category:Cartoon mascots Category:American mascots Category:Bees in popular culture Category:Insect mascots Category:Mascots introduced in 1962 Category:Vaccination advocates Category:Anthropomorphic insects Category:Centers for Disease Control and Prevention --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Wellbee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellbee) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellbee?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.