What TXDOT Taught the Marketing World
Somewhere around the mid-80s, litter was a big problem in Texas. A nearly 20 percent rise in trash tossing was costing us $20 million annually. To combat the issue, the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) hired Tim McClure and his colleagues at Austin-based advertising agency GSD&M to create an anti-litter campaign. They came up with the slogan, “Don’t Mess with Texas.”
Along with the agency’s catchy slogan, they enlisted the help of Daniel B. Syrek, a California researcher who specialized in measuring litter. His hard data indicated that young men between the ages of 16 and 24 were the major offenders. McClure and his team were stashing bumper stickers spouting the slogan in truck stops and fast food restaurants, places frequented by their target demographic. But this paraphernalia wasn’t labeled as from the TxDOT and had no clear indication about its true meaning. The ambiguity was an intentional tactic.
Officially launching on New Year’s Day in 1986 during the broadcast of the 50th annual Cotton Bowl, television viewers saw a commercial starring Texas blues musician Stevie Ray Vaughan strumming a guitar in front of a large Texas flag at the Austin City Limits studio. A voiceover reminded the audience of the expense and illegality of littering. The commercial ended with Vaughan saying, “Don’t mess with Texas.”
The campaign was hugely effective because instead of working to change people’s negative behaviors, it tapped into Texans’ strong sense of state pride. Beyond its immediate role in reducing litter, the slogan has been popularly appropriated by Texans and is associate with our Texas swagger.
The iconic red, white and blue trash cans and the help of fellow Texans such as Willie Nelson, Matthew McConaughey, Lyle Lovett, LeAnn Rimes, Kevin Fowler and Jack Ingram, have spread the word about keeping Texas highways litter-free.
