Monday, August 11, 2008

Don't Waste Utah

Maybe some of you who grew up in Utah, or at least lived in Utah in the 80s would remember the clever ad campaign, "Don't Waste Utah", in which this hottie and his dog single-handedly fought the good fight against litter bugs on our remote Utah highways? Well these commercials left a lasting impression on me. I probably do a lot of foolish things to destroy the environment and I don't always make the effort to offset my carbon footprint, but you can believe I NEVER litter!

Well, unfortunately my hoon-mate wasn't raised in Utah. She's from Arizona. Apparently in Arizona the ad campaign down there was something more like, "If There's Something In Your Car That You Don't Want In There, Don't Just Leave It Till You Get To A Gas Station, Throw It Out The Window." And maybe there was some comparable hottie and his dog, driving down the remote highways of AZ getting annoyed by cups and garbage in the car and throwing them out the window? I don't know.

So obviously there's a story that goes along with this diatribe. The other day we went up to beautiful Bear Lake. We swam in the cool clear blue waters. We napped upon the sandy beaches. Ahhhh... When we left my hoon-mate decided that she needed to try one of the famous Bear Lake raspberry milkshakes. Pretty good idea. The little place was so crowded and slow, so she just ate it in the car as we drove home. Well, she got to the point where she'd enjoyed as much of that shake as she cared to enjoy. I was sitting in the backseat. I wasn't sure what was going on, but she rolled down her window, reached over for something, and next thing I know, she threw that milkshake out the window and onto that remote, pristine northern Utah highway. She said she felt bad, but she didn't know what to do with it. I guess it would have been foolish to just leave it in the cup holder until we got to a gas station. Or at least waited until we got to Wyoming to throw it out?

I don't know. I guess, Who am I to judge? She wasn't raised the same way as me. She didn't know any better...

12 comments:

nathaniel said...

the best part of those commercials was when the hottie and his dog handcuffed the litterbug to an overturned car leaking gas, then gave him a hacksaw to try and cut off his arm before the car exploded.

it was an effective lesson.

marshall p said...

spankings.


mmm. I don't know if it's an Arizona thing. one time I threw a kleenex out the window. (kleenex biodegradable, right?) this was in '92 when I was young and foolish. my friend, Merlin, stopped the car, reversed to the kleenex and made me pick it up. lesson learned.

bex said...

i grew up in California, and I never got to see the hottie and his dog, but there was perhaps an equally effective commercial about an Indian (like, the Native American kind) on the side of the road crying because someone threw their milkshake out the window. Nice one, Hoon. He is probably still there, sobbing over this one.

ram said...

I think you need to introduce me to this 'hoon-mate' of yours - something tells me we'd get along just fine.

Even though I come from the "Don't mess with" state

Hoon said...

I'm ashamed.

natali said...

to be fair she screamed a little. like it pained her to do such a thing.

l i z said...

once while driving through the Angeles Crest mountains, my bf thought it would be cool to throw his chewed gum out the window. i immediately stopped the car, chewed him out in front of his friends and made him go look for it in the dirt.

very effective campaign that "don't waste Utah".

marshall p said...

wow. chewed gum? that's so hard core.

Maudie Jane said...

Hey where I come from littering is sooooooooooo bad, you actually go to hell if you liter. On Sunday the kids and I were just pulling out of the driveway when I rolled the windows down, being a gusty day something white flew out. What did we do, we stopped the damn car and went looking for it. I never found it but we picked up something else in its place.
Naught, naughty hoon, but don't worry you will burn in hell to atone. I might be there too if the gods of “give a hoot” wont accept my due diligence in picking up a piece of paper in place of the one that escaped.

allibaster said...

i remember that guy and his car (made entirely out of recycled aluminum cans) visited my elementary school. it was an awesome day.

ram said...

I guess this post did its job - Saturday I was behind some escalade when out the drivers side flys one styrofoam cup and then out the passenger side popped another. I was livid. I flew right past them, forced them to stop by totally cutting them off and then yelled at em to go pick it up as I took own their license plate number.

Well, I thought about doing that, but I was turning at the next light to go to a service project. But I figured the indignation was a victory in itself. And my car looks like a small dumpster.

Mission accomoplished.

Unknown said...

unfortunatly that litter bug played by Theron Read died this week. id love to find a copy of the comercial online if anyone knows where to find it.....