Don't Mess with Texas Hits the Highway
- 05.24.03
Don?t Mess with Texas Hits the Highway
Road Tour will travel to 25 cities, logging 5,000 miles to spread litter prevention message
(AUSTIN) ? Texans have come to know Don?t Mess with Texas for its rock ?n? roll attitude, so the campaign is doing what any legend would do ? it?s going on tour.
The first-ever Don?t Mess with Texas Road Tour kicks off in Austin today and will take a truck full of litter-related games and prizes around Texas to inform the state?s worst litterers ? Texans ages 16?24 ? about the consequences of littering.
The tour, which runs through Labor Day weekend, is the largest litter prevention event the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has undertaken since launching the Don?t Mess with Texas campaign in 1986. TxDOT expects the tour to reach more than 200,000 young adults this summer through stops in all 25 of its geographic districts.
"We are excited about this fresh, new addition to our campaign," said TxDOT Travel Division Director Doris Howdeshell. "Littering is an ugly, expensive problem needing a solution that reaches all parts of the state, and the Don?t Mess with Texas Road Tour does just that."
While the campaign has helped reduce roadside litter by 52 percent in Texas since 1995, 1 billion pieces of litter still accumulate each year, costing the state?s taxpayers approximately $32 million in cleanup costs. To create an innovative solution for combating this problem, TxDOT assembled a panel of young adults from across the state called the Don?t Mess with Texas Ground Support. This group said participating in a one-on-one dialogue about littering is one of the most effective ways to get them to stop the behavior, and a road tour is an ideal way to create such conversations.
"People my age want facts so we can make our own choices," said Cliff Goyang, a Ground Support member in San Angelo. "If you tell us littering facts in a fun way instead of lecturing, and you give us a litterbag, chances are we?ll keep that burger wrapper in the car the next time we?re on the highway."
The Road Tour is providing facts by vinyl-wrapping a 24-foot box truck with statistics like, "You?d need 13,128 trucks like this to haul away all the litter dropped on Texas highways every year." The fun quotient will be filled as the truck rolls into youthful hotspots like concerts and festivals. Crews will unload a basketball court complete with "litter balls" and a game show stage for testing litter trivia knowledge. Game contestants can compete for giveaways like Don?t Mess with Texas T-shirts, but all attendees will leave with an important parting gift ? a car litterbag.
The Road Tour is the cornerstone of the summer Don?t Mess with Texas campaign, which also includes new radio spots featuring Houston comedian Tommy Drake randomly asking people to dump litter on their loved ones. This approach mirrors the campaign?s recent "If your Mother were Texas" television spots. Other new advertisements include the campaign?s first 3D billboards along with traditional flat billboards. Both focus on fast food trash with the message "It?s take-out. Not toss-out." Food packaging is the leading source of litter on Texas roadsides.
To help cover tour costs, TxDOT recruited Dairy Queen and LaQuinta as event sponsors and campaign partners. Dairy Queen is the sponsor of the litter basketball game and provided
T-shirts and other game prizes. The restaurant chain will also serve complimentary food at several of the tour stops. LaQuinta is sponsoring the litter trivia game and has donated hotel rooms for tour staff.
Event attendees who pledge not to litter on Texas highways and tell their friends not to litter will be entered into a drawing for free LaQuinta hotel stays, an airline voucher or mountain bikes.
"We?re so grateful to Dairy Queen and LaQuinta for supporting the tour and for their commitment to beautifying our state," said Howdeshell. "Working with partners, from large corporations to elementary schools, has allowed us to spread the Don?t Mess with Texas message further over the years than we ever could on our own."
The Don?t Mess with Texas Road Tour is making scheduled stops in each of the following cities. For event locations and other background information on the tour, visit www.dontmesswithtexas.org.
May 24?25 Austin
June 1 Dallas
June 6?7 Fort Worth
June 13 Childress
June 14 Wichita Falls
June 21 Amarillo
June 26 Paris
June 27 Texarkana
June 28 Tyler
June 29 Waco
July 4 Bryan
July 5 Houston
July 6?7 San Antonio
July (TBD) Pharr
July 12 Victoria
July 13 Corpus Christi
July 26 Beaumont
July 29 Lufkin
August 10 El Paso
August (TBD) Odessa
August (TBD) Laredo
August 16?17 San Angelo
August 20 Lubbock
August 30 Abilene
September 3 Brownwood
September 6 Austin
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TxDOT?s Don?t Mess with Texas litter prevention campaign has been educating Texans about litter prevention since 1986.
For more information, visit www.dontmesswithtexas.org.
