History
In 1985 the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) asked Mike Blair and Tim McClure of GSD&M to create a slogan for an anti-littering campaign. At the time the state of Texas spent about $20 million annually to clean litter from highways. McClure said that "bubbas in pickup trucks" who regularly littered beer cans and other items out of vehicle windows and ordinary Texans who believed that littering was a "God-given right" were targets of the advertising camapaign. McClure said that he created the slogan when he saw the garbage while walking near his house. Emanuella Grinberg of CNN said that McClure had "an eleventh hour "aha" moment" when, after looking at the trash, he recalled his mother telling him that his room was messy. "McClure said It occurred to me that the only time I'd heard the word litter was in reference to dogs. Mess seemed like it would resonate better."
The creators initially had difficulty convincing TXDOT to adopt the slogan. The creators said that the administrators were "buzz-cutted, conservative kind of characters." The creators joked that the board members' average age was 107. McClure recalled that "The crowd was sprinkled with 'Keep America Beautiful' and 'Keep Texas Beautiful' folks, and our audience is 18-to-24 young males." McClure added that "The 'Keep Texas Beautiful' lady said, 'Can we at least say please?' I said, 'No ma'am, you cannot use the line if you put please in front of it.'"
The campaign began in 1985 with a series of bumper stickers. In 1986 the slogan premiered its first television advertisement, featuring Stevie Ray Vaughan, at the 50th Annual Cotton Bowl Classic on January 1, 1986, singing the "Eyes of Texas" with the line "Don't Mess with Texas" added at the end of the song. Since then, numerous musicians, athletes, celebrities and other famous Texans have appeared in "Don't Mess with Texas" radio and television public service announcements, including:
- Lance Armstrong
- Asleep at the Wheel
- Erykah Badu
- Marcia Ball
- Joe "King" Carrasco
- Johnny Dee and the Rocket 88's
- Joe Ely
- The Fabulous Thunderbirds
- George Foreman
- Tish Hinojosa
- Los Lonely Boys
- Jennifer Love Hewitt
- Lyle Lovett
- Billy Mays
- Matthew McConaughey
- Warren Moon
- Willie Nelson
- Andy Pettitte
- LeAnn Rimes
- Shamu & the Texas Tuxedos
- Stevie Ray Vaughan
- Jerry Jeff Walker
- George Strait
- Tiffany Blackgrove
- Owen Wilson
- Chuck Norris
In a 12 year period over 26 television spots appeared.
Read more about this topic: Don't Mess With Texas
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