The Crying Indian

One of the most well-known appearances by a Native American in a television commercial comes from 1971 and the Keep America Clean campaign (which ironically is not an environmental group, but a trade group for beer and soda makers who use cans as packaging). The spot is titled The Crying Indian. No discussion of Native American imagery in advertising or branding is complete without a look at this commercial. It is often credited with inspiring America's environmental movement (Strand, 2008). Let's take a look at the commercial before we continue: The Crying Indian. (Available on YouTube.)

In this commercial we see the ultimate conflation of Native Americans with nature and the environment. The Native American individual (who in reality is not even Native American, but Italian American - a whole other topic!) is seen to represent nature itself. He weeps for the way that people are destroying the earth with pollution and littering. As the single tear runs down his face, the voice over declares that, "People start pollution. People can stop it." However, the commercial has just positioned the Native American as one with nature; he is an inanimate object. The message is clearly that Native Americans are not actual people and, thus, they cannot stop pollution; it is left up to the "real people" to deal with pollution and save nature. In this way, stereotypes that perpetuate views of Native Americans as less than truly human, and, thus, inferior are perpetuated.

Reference
Strand, G. (2008, November). The crying Indian. The Onion.