'Don't Mess With Texas' turns 30 years old

Outside the state's capitol, Texans are reminded of the meaning behind a 30-year-old slogan. A ball of trash was used as a prop by the Texas Department of Transportation to launch new announcements as part of the "Don't mess with Texas" anti-litter campaign.﻿ less Outside the state's capitol, Texans are reminded of the meaning behind a 30-year-old slogan. A ball of trash was used as a prop by the Texas Department of Transportation to launch new announcements as part ... more Photo: Eric Gay, STF Photo: Eric Gay, STF Image 1 of / 75 Caption Close 'Don't Mess With Texas' turns 30 years old 1 / 75 Back to Gallery

This week the iconic “Don’t Mess with Texas” campaign celebrates 30 years of discouraging Texan litter bugs from trashing the highways and byways of the Lone Star State.

The Texas Department of Transportation launched the campaign in 1985, with the first television ads running during the Cotton Bowl in January 1986.

In the clip, Texas guitar saint Stevie Ray Vaughan wrenches out an abbreviated rendition of “The Eyes of Texas” and then looks into the camera and says, "Don’t mess with Texas.”

Millions of Texans immediately rethought throwing that soda can out the car window.

In April of that year, the campaign began in earnest with Dallas Cowboys players Ed “Too Tall” Jones and Randy White bringing some brawn to the fight.

HoustonChronicle.com: 'Don't Mess With Texas' lives on after 30 years

The phrase, coined by Austin-based marketing giant GSD&M, entered the pop-culture lexicon and the red, white and blue trash bins became famous across Texas.

“When this program was created, Texas had a really bad problem of picking up highway litter,” Jeff Austin, a TxDOT commissioner, told the Dallas Morning News this week. “As a seventh-generation Texan, it was really embarrassing.”

In 2011 Texas Monthly wrote a lengthy feature on “Don’t Mess with Texas” and its legend.

The phrase is so ubiquitous that some people forget it was created as a way to discourage littering. It’s just like “Come and Take It” or “Houston, we have a problem” at this point.

It was good enough to earn a spot in the Advertising Hall of Fame. The slogan had a bite to it that something like “Keep Texas Beautiful” didn’t. Punks, cowboys, drag queens and oil men could all get behind it.

RELATED: Don't Mess With Texas anti-litter effort marks 30 years

As the Dallas Morning News reminds, the state does in fact own the trademark to the phrase and is known to ask people to refrain from using it without permission. It’s become big business for the state to license the phrase to companies for commercial use.

Over three decades, TV public service announcements with the phrase have featured everyone from Nolan Ryan to George Strait to Erykah Badu, imploring Texans to keep the state clean.

When Mr. Texas, Willie Nelson, checked in in 1989 to sing “Mamas, tell your babies ‘Don’t mess with Texas,’” it resonated. You wouldn’t want to disobey Willie.

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The same year Houston Oilers stars Warren Moon and Ernest Given filmed an ad in Houston, with Moon throwing a bag of trash squarely into a trash barrel near downtown from what looks like a backroad in The Woodlands.

According to the 2011 Texas Monthly piece on the brand’s history, those linemen in the ad were actually very lucky high school football players recruited to fill in for real Oilers that didn’t show up for the shoot.

Truth be told, some Texans are still guilty of littering, but each year the amount of highway trash seems to be going down. Maybe the famous slogan has had a lasting impact.

If you're feeling extra-vigilant, download the official DMWT app and report the next litterer you see.