“Don’t Mess With Texas”

“Don’t Mess With Texas” is the famous 1985-86 anti-littering campaign of the Texas Department of Transportation. The slogan has been nominated for Madison Avenue’s advertising hall of fame.
 
 
Don’t mess with Texas
History
1985:
The Don’t Mess with Texas campaign is created by The Texas Highway Commission, now the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).
The world’s first adopted highway is cleaned in Tyler, Texas, by the Tyler Civitans.
1986:
Stevie Ray Vaughan utters the words “Don’t Mess with Texas” in the campaign’s premiere television public service announcement.
1988:
The first Spanish-language TV PSA airs with an animated spot featuring Sea World’s “Shamu” and his “Texas Tuxedo” penguin sidekicks singing about roadside and beach litter.
“A pickup truck and a sunny day” is the setting of Jerry Jeff Walker’s PSA telling Texans to watch for litter flying from their truck beds.
1989:
Willie Nelson’s “Mamas, tell all your babies Don’t Mess with Texas” becomes an instant classic for the campaign.
Nine years later, Texans vote this spot as their favorite Don’t Mess with Texas PSA.
1991:
In the Confederate Air Force spot, an ominous B-17 rises over the horizon as litter is tossed out the window of a pickup truck on a lonely Texas highway. “Let’s make an impression on this guy,” says the pilot, in another of the campaign’s most popular TV spots.
If anyone ever messes with Texas, “pray for him, brother, pray for him,” says Preacher George Foreman, in this spot featuring the former heavyweight boxer and sometime minister.
Other PSAs this year featured Joe Ely, Marcia Ball and a vigilante wrestler.
1998:
New market research reveals the state’s worst litterers are now Texans ages 16 to 24. Dubbed “Generation Litterer,” or “Gen L,” the campaign’s new target audience is not only young but also eats a lot of fast food, and frequently drives, smokes and parties.
The study also reveals 96 percent of Texans have heard of “Don’t Mess with Texas,” but only 61 percent know it means “don’t litter.” Time to amp up the litter prevention message.
For the first time, Don’t Mess with Texas and the state’s most problematic forms of litter (cigarettes, food wrappers, beverage containers) are featured on highway billboards.
The campaign’s Web site, http://www.dontmesswithtexas.org, is launched.
Founding Don’t Mess with Texas Partners like H-E-B Grocery, Coca-Cola, Sonic and McCoy’s help promote litter prevention by featuring the Don’t Mess with Texas logo on millions of bags, packaging and advertising.
1999:
The nation’s first tobacco litter PSA is produced, featuring “Jimmy the Butt Collector.” The spot was created and directed by Rob Bindler, director of the cult Texas classic documentary “Hands on a Hard Body.”
2000:
• Gen L favorite Matthew McConaughey hauls litterers to the state line in a new PSA. Rob Bindler, a childhood friend of McConaughey, also directs this spot.
• An updated Don’t Mess with Texas logo debuts in the McConaughey spot and is registered to TxDOT with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
2001:
New research reveals roadside litter has dropped by 52 percent since 1995.
The study also reveals that 1.25 billion pieces of litter accumulate on Texas roadsides annually.
“If your mother were Texas, would you still litter?” is the question posed to Gen L in a new PSA featuring a young male pouring a soft drink and cup over his mom. Three other PSAs—“If your daughter were Texas…,” “If your grandfather were Texas…” and “If your girlfriend were Texas”—spotlighted the worst kinds of litter: fast food packaging, scrap paper and cigarette butts.
2002:
A new study reveals that while Spanish-speaking Texans are as familiar with Don’t Mess with Texas as the general population, fewer know it refers to litter prevention. In new Spanish-language advertising, “Don’t Mess with Texas” is left in English but reinforced with the tagline, “En Texas, no se tira basura” (In Texas, you don’t throw down trash).
The new Spanish tagline debuts in a TV spot aimed at the Hispanic Gen L audience, because new research shows that like the general population, age is the number one predictor of littering for the Hispanic population in Texas.
2003:
The campaign goes 3-D with eye-popping “It’s Take-Out, Not Toss-Out” billboards, calling out the fast food litter problem with enormous soda cups and curly fries.
The first Don’t Mess with Texas Road Tour travels 5,000 miles around Texas to educate Gen L about how easy it is to not litter.
2004:
Don’t Mess with Texas is featured on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.”
Official Don’t Mess with Texas merchandise becomes available at http://www.dontmesswithtexas.org. Proceeds benefit the campaign.
The first “Campus Cleanup” is held, with 17 Texas colleges and universities participating.
The first Don’t Mess with Texas college scholarship is awarded.
“One billion pieces of litter. Zero good excuses” is the tagline for a new TV PSA campaign illustrating that no matter how small it is, litter’s a big problem.
2005:
Don’t Mess with Texas reaches out to the youngest Texans with a new group of superheroes: the Litter Force. Aimed at first graders, the Litter Force encourages kids to help “blast the trash!”
New research indicates that while litter has dropped 33 percent since 2001, one in two Texans admits to littering.
Seventy-one percent of Texans know Don’t Mess with Texas means “don’t litter,” compared with 62 percent in 2001. Regardless, support for the campaign remains strong with nine out of 10 Texans wanting to see the campaign continue.
2006:
Don’t Mess with Texas returns to the Cotton Bowl, with the launch of the 20th anniversary “Real Texans Don’t Litter” PSAs featuring a wealth of well-known Texans.
Stay tuned for more 20th anniversary celebrations centered around a statewide 25-stop cleanup tour and scavenger hunts for big prizes, including round-trip airline tickets donated by corporate partner Southwest Airlines.
 
   
(Trademark)
Word Mark DON’T MESS WITH TEXAS
Goods and Services IC 042. US 100 101. G & S: PROMOTING THE BEAUTIFICATION OF TEXAS HIGHWAYS AND THE PUBLIC AWARENESS OF THE NEED FOR LITTER PREVENTION AND LITTER CLEANUP THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT AND DISSEMINATION OF EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS AND PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS, AND THE DEVELOPMENT, PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION OF ANTI-LITTER PROGRAMS. FIRST USE: 19851130. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19851130
Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING
Design Search Code
Serial Number 76148544
Filing Date October 16, 2000
Current Filing Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Published for Opposition June 18, 2002
Registration Number 2616831
Registration Date September 10, 2002
Owner (REGISTRANT) Texas Department of Transportation STATE AGENCY TEXAS 125 E. 11th Street Austin TEXAS 787012483
Attorney of Record Christopher L Graff
Type of Mark SERVICE MARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE
 
 
(Trademark)
Word Mark DON’T MESS WITH TEXAS
Goods and Services IC 016. US 002 005 022 023 029 037 038 050. G & S: PRINTED MATTER AND PAPER PRODUCTS, NAMELY STICKERS, DECALS, BUMPER STICKERS, PAPER FOOD CONTAINERS, PAPER BAGS, PLASTIC TRASH BAGS, PAPER AND PLASTIC LITTER BAGS, GROCERY BAGS, PLAYING CARDS; PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS, NAMELY, PAMPHLETS AND BROCHURES IN THE FIELDS OF LITTER PREVENTION AND LITTER CLEANUP. FIRST USE: 19860331. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19860331
Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING
Design Search Code
Serial Number 75981469
Filing Date October 16, 2000
Current Filing Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Published for Opposition July 9, 2002
Registration Number 2627196
Registration Date October 1, 2002
Owner (REGISTRANT) Texas Department of Transportation AGENCY OF THE STATE TEXAS 125 E. 11th Street Austin TEXAS 787012483
Attorney of Record Christopher L Graff
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE