A Native American advocacy group has announced the retirement of the iconic 1970s anti-pollution commercial featuring the ‘Crying Indian’. The ad, commissioned by the non-profit Keep America Beautiful, shows a man in Native American attire shedding a single tear at the sight of smokestacks and litter against a scenic backdrop.
However, the commercial has long been accused of being offensive, not least because the actor Iron Eyes Cody was not Native American.
This week, Keep America Beautiful announced that it was forfeiting the transmission rights to the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), who said it would retire the ad and monitor its use to ensure it is only used for historical context.
The decision was welcomed by NCAI executive director Larry Wright, Junior, who said that the ad was inappropriate then and remains inappropriate today.
The commercial was a sensation when it first premiered in 1971, making Iron Eyes Cody a household name. He filmed three follow-up public service announcements and spent more than 25 years making public appearances and school visits on behalf of the anti-litter campaign.
However, the commercial came under increasingly heavy fire for its damaging and stereotypical depiction of Native Americans.
The non-profit Keep America Beautiful, composed of leading beverage and packaging corporations, was founded in 1953 by the American Can Company and the Owens-Illinois Glass Company, before later being joined by Coca-Cola and the Dixie Cup Company.
The commercial’s damaging and stereotypical depiction of Native Americans unnerved environmentalists.
Dr. Jennifer J. Folsom, a journalism and media communication professor at Colorado State University and a Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma citizen, praised Keep America Beautiful’s decision as an ‘appropriate move’. She argued that the commercial had done damage to public perception and support for actual Native people doing things to protect the land and protect the environment.
Robert ‘Tree’ Cody, the adopted son of Iron Eyes Cody, said the commercial had ‘good intent and good heart’ at its core. He added that the commercial was one of the top 100 commercials and reminded him of spending time with his father. His wife, Rachel Kee-Cody, was ‘disappointed’ by the retirement of the commercial, though she acknowledged that times were changing.
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