TVSquad

After I read the press release about The Simpsons 20th year poster contest, one thought came to mind: Fire Prevention Week. If you were raised as a clean-cut boy and/or girl in the America of the last few decades, you'll recall the week in either September or October where you got to climb up on the firetruck parked in the school parking lot and learn all about fires from an honest-to-goodness firefighter. There was also an obligatory poster contest to create free press material for the fire departments in the area.

No matter how hard I tried, I could never win one of those contests. It usually went to someone who spent their time drawing pictures of Camaros on the back of their Trapper Keepers during math. And what do these people do now? Well, they draw Camaros on the back of Trapper Keepers. But, they get paid for it now. Anyway, for some reason that's where my mind went when I thought of this Simpsons' contest.

This time around, you won't be designing a poster on how matches are not toys. What you'll be doing is designing a piece of artwork celebrating the show's 20th year on the air. All you have to do is go to The Simpsons' website and upload your design. It can be something from scratch or you can use character designs from the site. The only things to prevent you from doing this are not abiding by FOX's Terms of Agreement and not getting the submission in by March 4th.

After that, the producers of The Simpsons will choose 10 finalists and, from there, the Grand Prize winner. The big winner (and a guest) will be whisked to Los Angeles where they'll take a journey on Universal Studios' The Simpsons ride and rub elbows during the season 21 premiere party. But wait ... there's more! In a flashback to Fire Prevention Week, FOX may use your poster as free publicity for the new season.

What more can I say? Get past all of your insecurities from elementary school, get your yellow paint ready, and design your heart out.