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1961, Keep America Beautiful partnered with the Ad Council
to create a campaign dramatizing how litter and other forms
of pollution were hurting the environment, and that every
individual has the responsibility to help protect it. The
goal of the campaign was to help fight the negative attitudes
and behaviors that lead to pollution.
The anti-litter campaign originally featured
"Suzy Spotless" scolding her litterbug father and
later featured pigs rummaging through trash left behind by
humans. In 1970, the Keep America Beautiful toll-free hotline
began offering a free brochure, and more than 100,000 copies
were requested within the first four months. On top of that,
the National Litter Index dropped for the second straight
year. However, it wasn't until later that the Pollution Prevention
campaign became embedded in American culture.
On Earth Day, 1971, a PSA featuring Native American
actor Chief Iron Eyes Cody and the tagline line, "People
Start Pollution. People can stop it." aired for the first
time. Iron Eyes Cody became synonymous with environmental
concern and achieved lasting fame as, "The Crying Indian."
The PSA won two Clio awards and the campaign was named one
of the top 100 advertising campaigns of the 20th Century by
Ad Age Magazine. In 1982, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce
honored Iron Eyes Cody, whose film repertoire included three
Western films with President Ronald Reagan, with a star bearing
his name on the Famous Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard.
During the height of the campaign, Keep America
Beautiful reported receiving more than 2,000 letters a month
from people wanting to join their local team. By the end of
the campaign, Keep America Beautiful local teams had helped
to reduce litter by as much as 88% in 300 communities, 38
states, and several countries. The success of the Keep America
Beautiful anti-litter campaign led to hundreds of other environmental
messages through the years, from many different sources, including
the Ad Council.
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| Suzy Spotless (1969) |
The Crying Indian (1974) |
Ad Council
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