'Don't Mess with Texas' turns 20

Who can forget "Don't Mess with Texas?" This year, the anti-litter ad campaign that's become part of our state's consciousness turns 20 — and TxDOT is marking its birthday with a star-studded series of ads that will debut during the Cotton Bowl today featuring Texans including Lance Armstrong and Erykah Badu.

We were kind of amazed by how versatile the campaign has been:

The inaugural "Don't Mess with Texas" campaign targeted sports-and-music-loving, pickup-truck-driving men ages 18 to 34, which research showed were the worst litterers. The first commercials featured actors, athletes and musicians, such as Willie Nelson, who crooned "Mamas, tell all your babies Don't Mess with Texas."

By 1998, research found males and females ages 16 to 24 had become the biggest offenders, so the celebrity spots that appealed to older men were replaced with short movie-like ads produced by Texas filmmakers. Later commercials asked, "If someone you love were Texas, would you still litter?"

Even kids are learning about littering through a cast of cartoon superheroes and villains unveiled this summer, such as Hawk, who can see litter a mile away, and The Chipinator, a crinkled bag that hurls uneaten potato chips.

The Chipinator is our hero. It seems the campaign has been successful in reducing litter in the Lone Star State, too, because — and this is really amazing — there are apparently people who actually count litter.

A study released earlier this month found 827 million pieces of litter had accumulated on Texas roadways in 2005, compared with 1.25 billion in 2001 — a 33 percent decrease.

As if that wasn't enough, you really should check out the DMWT Web site, where you can report a litterer (be sure you know the offender's license plate number, what was thrown out of the car and who did it) and answer a litter quiz, then pat yourself on the back with some Don't Mess with Texas merchandise.