Crying Indian

According to the Ad Council, the 1971 ad campaign featuring Native American actor Iron Eyes Cody, was their most successful Pollution Prevention campaign.

"During the height of the campaign, Keep America Beautiful reported receiving more than 2,000 letters a month from people wanting to join their local team. By the end of the campaign, Keep America Beautiful local teams had helped to reduce litter by as much as 88% in 300 communities, 38 states, and several countries. The success of the Keep America Beautiful anti-litter campaign led to hundreds of other environmental messages through the years, from many different sources, including the Ad Council."

Every kid from the 70s remembers these commercials with the crying indian. Question is, can a public service ad campaign be as successful today given our level of media and cultural savvy?

I would love to work on marketing campaigns for public service projects. I just wonder how this would take shape and look with the inclusion of web-based media sources. It's strange to me that with all of the advances we have made in media technology how lagging our designs and marketing strategies are. On a design level, we seem to revert back to old designs simply to put a new spin on them. It's as if culturally we can't move forward or keep up.

On another note, I'm very frustrated today. I hate many of the choices I have made or avoided professionally.