Which 1970s public-service advertising campaign used a littered landscape and the slogan “Keep America Beautiful”?

The Keep America Beautiful campaign used advertising to turn litter prevention into a prominent national cause.

Keep America Beautiful is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1953 by business and civic leaders. During the 1970s, its public-service advertising showed polluted roadsides, waterways, and public spaces, often linking careless disposal to visible damage in the landscape.

The organization’s best-known advertisement was the 1971 “Crying Indian” commercial, but the broader Keep America Beautiful name covered a continuing anti-litter movement rather than one isolated television spot. The campaign helped establish littering as a behavior that could be changed through public education.

A common mix-up is confusing the organization with the specific “Crying Indian” commercial. The latter is one advertisement associated with the wider campaign and organization. Keep America Beautiful also became part of debates about corporate responsibility because beverage and packaging companies supported some of its activities while critics argued that the messaging placed too much blame on consumers.