Since its debut in 1971, the anti-pollution ad showing a man in Native American attire shedding a single tear has become an indelible piece of TV pop culture.
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The nonprofit that originally commissioned the advertisement, Keep America Beautiful, had long been considering how to retire the ad and announced this week that it’s doing so by transferring ownership of the rights to the National Congress of American Indians. Dr. Jennifer J. Folsom, a journalism and media communication professor at Colorado State University and a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, remembers watching the public service announcement as a child.“At that point, every single person who showed up with braids and buckskins, on TV or anywhere in the movies, I glommed on to that because it was such a rare thing to see,” said Folsom, whose areas of study include Native American pop culture.
She applauded Keep America Beautiful’s decision as an “appropriate move.” It will mean a trusted group can help control the narrative the ad has promoted for over 50 years, she said.
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