There has been only one commercial my entire life that brought me to the edge of genuine tears— the Keep America Beautiful public service announcements from the early 1970s. I remember watching this as a kid and feeling waves of guilt and a fierce determination to never, ever litter. (It helped that my mother would have backhanded me into next week if she ever caught me littering.)
In 1979, this awareness led a group of us neighborhood boys forming our tough little suburban, pre-teen gang, "The Sunshine Boys." The Sunshine boys were a "positive" gang committed to cleaning up litter. We met in an old pigeon coop on the edge of our property my Dad turned into storage.
Let me just say that times were different then.
I clearly remember this commercial and it also had a dramatic impact on me as a child. Even later when it was satirized on SNL (?) I still felt it was an important message.
ReplyDeleteKamuel-- I remember in the 80s (I think) there were ads in magazines that said "Help keep America beautiful."
ReplyDeleteThey were ads for women's underwear that would hide pantylines or some such crap.
I would say, "Oh, this is a sign of how crappy things have gotten" except that America has actually made great strides in terms of pollution during the past thirty years.
America has also made great strides in hiding pantylines during the past thirty years.
ReplyDeleteDid you know that actor is Italian-American and not Native American?
Zanti-- WHAT? Why are you destroying my childhood with your facts?
ReplyDeleteSeriously? That sounds like something from a Sopranos episode.
ReplyDeleteI'm 50% Italian, but like 3% native american. Once my dad made fun of my brother for wearing a belt buckle with a native american in full head-dress by asking, "What? Are you celebrating your heritage?" I think it was just a pretty cool belt.
"The Sunshine Boys." That is hilarious!
ReplyDeleteMs. Proof-- Sometimes, when I'm feeling left out, I talk about my "African-American" heritage.
ReplyDeleteJenn-- In my defense, I don't think I created the name "Sunshine Boys." I'm going to blame my neighbor, Johnny, for that one.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to write in for that booklet on 71 Things You Can Do to Stop Pollution. Think they still publish it?
ReplyDeleteHoo, boy, I do remember this one (and Zanti's right, he is Italian-American. You could do a whole rant on who portrays Native-Americans). Sunshine Boys! I love it. How long did it last?
ReplyDelete