People are blaming us for the litter problems.
Well, I won't stand for it!
(crowd exclaiming)
Hear, hear!
Coca-Cola is tired of making a bunch of garbage
and then getting yelled at for making all that garbage.
Philip Morris concurs.
When you think about it, it's the customer's fault
for throwing our garbage away.
(man) Dixie Cup agrees.
We'll blame the customer.
(man 2) I know a better word for them.
Litterbugs.
(cheering and applause)
And so, with the help of over 20 companies,
they founded the original anti-litter group,
Keep America Beautiful.
Wait, Keep America Beautiful was founded by litter companies?
Yep, these companies actually popularized
the term "litterbug"
and shifted the litter blame from themselves onto you.
And all of this culminated
in Keep America Beautiful's most famous ad,
the crying Indian.
No. No, not that beautiful ad.
I'm afraid so.
The most famous PSA in history
was actually a piece of corporate propaganda.
And all of this totally worked.
Bottle bans were struck down
and Americans started blaming ourselves
for the litter problem.
Eating that can didn't kill Bessie...
I killed Bessie!
I'm a litterbug!
And today, we're stuck with disposables,
and every year, over 100 billion
beverage containers end up wasted,
either in landfills or incinerators,
or yeah, just plain littered.
Now, look, I want to be clear.
If you litter, you're a jerk.
But these companies threw out an effective recycling system
and instead asked us to pick up their trash,
and their marketing campaign helped create
an entire green culture that blames
individuals for pollution
rather than the companies making it.
That's terrible.
Well, from now on, I'm going to stop supporting companies
that pollute and I'll only buy green products,
like my hybrid.
And pretty soon, I'm going electric
with a brand-new Tesla.
Wait, you already have a hybrid
but you're gonna buy a brand-new electric car?
That choice can actually hurt the environment.
Hurt the environment, yay!