As we continue to be safe staying at home, Alabama Power invites you to keep kids learning and engaged with “Learn with Louie,” a website filled with electrical safety activities and videos.
The Louie the Lightning Bug character was developed for Alabama Power in 1983 to introduce electrical safety to children. He was so successful in encouraging kids to “play it safe around electricity,” that Georgia Power, Mississippi Power and Gulf Power adopted his television spots the following year.
Through the years, Louie’s popularity expanded across the U.S. and abroad.
“Currently, there are about 50 utilities who license the character, but many more who use the books and materials,” said Pam Moore, owner of Moore Syndication, who has administered the trademark and syndication since 1984.
“In fact, Louie the Lightning Bug is even international,” Moore said. “There are Canadian and Caribbean utilities that use Louie to share electric safety messaging.”
The “Learn with Louie” site, launched April 6, has already been well-received on social media, with many users sharing remembrances of Louie from their youth and looking forward to sharing it with their children.
Louie looks a little differently today than he did in his debut. While he still advocates for electrical safety, he has been redrawn, with an LED bulb body, to promote energy efficiency and reflect the modernization of the energy industry.
“The total package of the Louie the Lightning Bug creative was meant to endear and endure,” Moore said. “The animation is engaging, the music and the voice-over of Jack Sheldon, is very memorable … Also, the safety messages resonate with the public, both children and adults.”
So, come along with Louie, and his friends, for family-friendly fun and learning.
