So, this leads us to the crying Indian.   The crying Indian wasn’t actually Native American at all, in fact, he was an Italian actor that went by the name “Iron Eyes Cody”.  In the 1970’s he appeared in a few anti-littering advertisements, some of the first ones as American consumers started to feel guilty about over-consumption and wastefulness.  In hindsight, perhaps this is an example of how advertising doesn’t work, hm?

This public service announcement begins as Iron Eyes rows his classic canoe onto the beach shore to find it littered by a bunch of dirty, parasitic Americans.  It’s filled with burger wrappers, drink containers, and the like.  He steps over the rubble and somehow ends up at the side of the highway.  Why he rowed to the side of the highway really isn’t our business, I mean, this is Iron Eyes Cody after all.

American consumers, however, not only lack respect for the land, but they also lack respect for people dressed in full costume on the side of the road.  A sloppy, indifferent driver chucks their leftover fast food at him, ruining his moccasins. Shamed and hurt, Iron Eyes sheds a single tear.

“People start pollution, people can stop it.”

Did we pick up all the litter on the side of the road?  Did we pull all those shoes dangling from the power lines?  Maybe we were driving less.  Were we planting more trees? Perhaps more kids were using Hand Sanitizer.

We’re not told how they’re measuring cleanliness, or how this percentage means much of anything at all.  I suppose you had to order the pamphlet for the explanation.

For the past 20 – 30 years, we rested well in the comfort that every city is exponentially cleaner, America.   So, where did our Indian guide go? Is he finally smiling?  We can only assume with the global warming concerns and guilt for over-consumption that he must have bawled himself to death at some point during the past 20 years.