Keep America Beautiful

So the industry helped promote a very different idea about what the problem actually was.

One of the most influential campaigns was called Keep America Beautiful.

Keep America Beautiful was, on the face of it, was an anti-littering campaign, and most Americans pretty much thought of this organization as being like some kind of a, you know, high-minded civic organization.

But Keep America Beautiful was actually founded by packaging, soda companies, uh, cigarette companies.

The organization had been founded in the 1950s, but its message became famous in the 1970s thanks to an ad that became one of the most recognizable TV spots of its era.

On the screen is a man who appears to be Native American.

And the industry leaned in and deliberately tried to shift that the other way.

So this is, you know, this organization called Keep America Beautiful that the industry started.

Most Americans, I think, thought of that as a, you know, fairly kind of nonpartisan, benign civic organization.

No one was saying anything different.

This is actually an industry-funded organization.

Bank Gold's originally by Coke, Pepsi, Philip Morris Tobacco, many other big plastics and packaging makers came on later.

And the idea was to keep America beautiful and their anti-littering campaigns.

The tagline at one point was, keeping America beautiful is your job.

That'll bring up Ken Singleton, who's one away.

Let's keep America beautiful.

Let's keep it clean.

The people at Ryan Gold ask

That'll bring up Ken Singleton with one away.

Let's keep America beautiful.

Let's keep it clean.

The people