Here in California, bears who have lost their natural dignity to the point of begging for food are common enough to be known as garbage bears (ursa scroungis). So, when a garbage cub wandered into the MontBleu Resort Casino and Spa in Lake Tahoe this week and headed for the restaurant, it wasn’t big news. Except that the casino’s ads, by the Schadler Kramer Group, have been featuring bears, too. See the TV spot above, in which a man spots a bear squatting in a bathroom stall, perhaps doing battle with the all-you-can-eat buffet. In another spot, a waitress is seen serving a bear some fish. The tagline is, “A habitat for everything wild.” One casino employee tells the Tahoe Daily Tribune: “Evidently the bears out there heard the story that bears can be fed at the nightclub at MountBleu. I guess we reached our target audience.” Says another: “Our advertising agency was trying to get him under contract ... but he got out before we could get his name and number.”

—Posted by Gregory Solman