Have you ever had a pleasant experience with the Department of Transportation?
Let me answer that for you, NO.
Known for their incredibly long lines, dull offices, and insanely great Marketing, wait hold up. Insanely great Marketing?
Yes.
One of the most legendary campaigns of all time came out of the squeaky ‘ol doors of the Texas Department of Transportation, spurring a statewide movement.
Let’s jump drive into today’s lesson.
The year is 1985, you’re driving behind a red Ford F150 on the long, straight Texas interstate highway, watching them eat a Big Mac and listen to Dire Straits.
They finish their Big Mac and toss it out the window, SPLAT. The wrapper and leftover ketchup hits your windshield. C’mon.
You’re furious, but they speed away and you’re unable to get the license plate.
You pick up the wrapper, thinking to yourself, how do we stop this??
Texas had a serious problem with littering. The culprit? “Bubba’s in pickup trucks” who felt it was their constitutional right to throw their Big Mac wrapper out on the side of the highway.
That’s when GSD&M, an ad agency based in Austin Texas, stepped in with a campaign that turned into a state slogan, merch line, and reduced litter on Texas highways by 72%.
Marketing Student, I present to you the “Don’t Mess with Texas” campaign.
Officially launching in 1985 with a series of bumper stickers donning the beloved red, white, and blue of the state and US flag, TxDOT took littering head on.
The quickest way for TxDOT to lose this battle with the “Bubba’s in pickup trucks” would have been to tell them what to do. Preaching at them, shaming them for their actions, would only result in more trash on the ground.
The reason the Bubba’s in pickup trucks were littering was because they felt they were sticking up for what was rightfully theirs (aka the freedom to litter).
Level up your marketing game
Zero BS. Just fun, unfiltered, industry insights with the game-changers behind some of the coolest companies from around the globe.
No spam. Unsubscribe any time.
So TxDOT had to flip the script on its head and give those Bubba’s something equally worth standing up for.
A prideful and always independent state, TxDOT knew just the way to rally the people of Texas.
**There’s a MASSIVE lesson here, build your customer personas! Know your target audience better than they know themselves, otherwise the very actions you’re hoping your audience takes might be thrown right back into your face.**
In 1986 TxDOT ran their first commercial featuring Stevie Ray Vaughan, legendary American musician who was born and raised in Dallas, Texas.
The commercial showed Stevie Ray at the 50th annual Cotton Bowl Classic (an iconic annual Texas football game) singing “Eyes of Texas” with the line “Don’t Mess with Texas” stamped on at the end of the song.
A Texas legend, singing a song about Texas, at Texas’ biggest football game, with the new TxDOT tagline “Don’t Mess with Texas”, where all Bubba’s in pickup trucks were watching, now THAT’S aligning your campaign with your target audience.
A call to action, a rally cry, a symbol of Texas repping a triumphant slogan at the end of one of his songs. This got the ball rolling for TxDOT.
Associating themselves with any type of government agency would have been a SUREFIRE way to be met with resistance and have their message thrown to the side (remember who their target demo was and what they cared about).
By instead associating themselves with the most Texan things out there, the phrase was destined to catch on.
Over the course of the next few months, TxDOT went all in on this angle of partnering with culturally identifiable Texans to spread the word about “Don’t Mess with Texas.”
Texas-born celebrities became the bedrock of the campaign, Owen Wilson and Matthew McConaughey were front and center, each repping the “Don’t Mess with Texas” slogan in their own commercial.
Who better to relate to your target audience than someone who is PART of your target audience.
Which also brings up the point that when working with influencers find ones who are a NATURAL fit to your brand, that’s where you’ll see prolonged success. Throwing cash at influencers is a thing of the past, prioritize long term relationships.
And even though we’re in a world where the Marketing landscape changes every 2 days, don’t forget about the fundamentals.
A juicy brand slogan can become an earworm for your brand that keeps you top of mind, ALL THE TIME.
A study revealed that 96% of Texans had heard the “Don’t Mess with Texas” phrase, Texan George W. Bush used the phrase in his acceptance speech, and rapper Lil’ Keke named his debut studio album Don’t Mess wit Texas.
The phrase became a slogan for people from ALL walks of life in Texas.
Recent collabs with Ethan Hawke, Matthew McConaughey, and Joe Jonas are keeping the “Don’t Mess with Texas” mantra alive. And I may or may not be doing my part as well with my newly bought “Don’t Mess with Texas” socks that I’ve been wearing around the house LOL.
**To counteract their shrinking budget during the great recession in 2008, TxDOT released a “Don’t Mess with Texas” merch line that is still running today. The campaign transcended highways.**
Texas highways are cleaner thanks to TxDOT, their genius Marketing campaign, and the support from Bubba’s in pickup trucks.
