If they ever build a TV commercial Hall of Fame there will surely be a space reserved for Iron Eyes Cody. Cody - you may remember him as the "Crying Indian" - was the "star" of the long-running public service announcement for Keep America Beautiful, Inc. (KAB) that ran on TV stations across the country during the 70s and 80s. Few who saw the commercial could forget its image of a single tear crawling down Cody's face as he reacted to the actions of litterbugs.Effective though the spot was, it became outdated as the larger issue of waste management eclipsed littering in the public consciousness as the nation's top garbage-related problem. When Keep America Beautiful - a national non-profit organization dedicated to improving waste handling practices in American communities - set to developing a new PSA to address the problem of waste management, it had to answer the question: How do you duplicate the impact of the "Crying Indian" spot?With the help of research, KAB and the Stamford, Conn.-based ad agency Rotando, Lerch & Iafeliece developed a spot that just might do that. (All of the those who worked on the spot, including Pytka Productions and Rotando, Lerch & Iafeliece Advertising, donated their time and talents.)

The central image of the new KAB spot, which was sent to 1100 broadcast and cable outlets in January, is a shot of a baby surrounded by mounds of garbage. The commercial begins with a close-up of the baby and pulls back to a wide shot as actor Michael Douglas narrates over the strains of "America The Beautiful:" "For future generations, our country is leaving behind our knowledge, our technologies, our values...and 190 million tons of garbage every year. Recycling alone just can't do it. Keep America Beautiful is an organization that can do something. We have solutions that have worked in cities and towns across the country. What can you do? More than you think!" Viewers are then invited to contact K...