Iron Eyes Cody in the "Crying Indian" Ad (1970s).
The “Crying Indian” ad was part of an anti-pollution campaign by the non-profit organization “Keep America Beautiful.” The ad showed a Native American man canoeing through a polluted river and witnessing the destruction of nature by factories and litter. The ad ended with a close-up of his face as a single tear rolled down his cheek, while a narrator said: "People start pollution. People can stop it."
The ad was first aired on “Earth Day 1971,” and it became one of the most iconic and influential environmental messages in American history. However, the ad also had a controversial and ironic backstory, as the man who played the Native American was actually an Italian-American actor named Iron Eyes Cody, and the organization behind the ad was founded by wealthy packaging and beverage companies that wanted to shift the blame for pollution away from their products and onto consumers.
[Source: “The Shocking True Story Behind the ‘Crying Indian’ Commercial” at ranker.com]
Full commercial: www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0sxwGlTLWw
Iron Eyes Cody in the "Crying Indian" Ad (1970s).
The “Crying Indian” ad was part of an anti-pollution campaign by the non-profit organization “Keep America Beautiful.” The ad showed a Native American man canoeing through a polluted river and witnessing the destruction of nature by factories and litter. The ad ended with a close-up of his face as a single tear rolled down his cheek, while a narrator said: "People start pollution. People can stop it."
The ad was first aired on “Earth Day 1971,” and it became one of the most iconic and influential environmental messages in American history. However, the ad also had a controversial and ironic backstory, as the man who played the Native American was actually an Italian-American actor named Iron Eyes Cody, and the organization behind the ad was founded by wealthy packaging and beverage companies that wanted to shift the blame for pollution away from their products and onto consumers.
[Source: “The Shocking True Story Behind the ‘Crying Indian’ Commercial” at ranker.com]
Full commercial: www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0sxwGlTLWw