The "crying Indian" TV commercial, also known as "Keep America Beautiful," is an iconic ad campaign that first aired in 1971. It was once considered one of the top 100 best commercials in the US.
The commercial featured a Native American actor, Iron Eyes Cody, paddling a canoe through a polluted waterway, surrounded by trash and industrial pollution. As he lands on a littered shore, a passenger in a passing car throws trash at his feet, prompting a single tear to roll down the Native American's cheek.
The commercial was produced by the advertising agency McCann Erickson for Keep America Beautiful, a nonprofit organization focused on reducing litter and promoting environmentalism. It quickly became a cultural touchstone, winning numerous awards and accolades, and spawning a variety of parodies and imitations.
The "crying Indian" commercial was one of the first environmental public service announcements to receive widespread attention and helped to raise public awareness about the issue of littering and pollution. It remains an enduring symbol of environmentalism and has been credited with inspiring a generation of environmental activists.
The portrayal of the "Crying Indian" in the TV commercial, however, has been criticized as perpetuating stereotypes of Indigenous people. The image of an Indigenous person dressed in buckskin and crying reinforces the idea of the "noble savage" and portrays Indigenous people as primitive and helpless.
Furthermore, the actor who played the "Crying Indian," Iron Eyes Cody, was not actually Indigenous, but rather of Italian-American heritage. His adoption of a Native American identity and persona for much of his life has been criticized as cultural appropriation.
It is important to note that Indigenous people have diverse cultures, traditions, and clothing styles that cannot be reduced to a single stereotype. Portrayals of Indigenous people in the media should aim to accurately represent their diversity and complexity, and avoid perpetuating harmful stereotypes or appropriating their cultures.
As a result, “Keep America Beautiful” has given up its claim to the PSA at large and transferred ownership to the National Congress of American Indians, which says it's retiring all of the promotions and will monitor to make sure it's never played without historical context.