KESAB advertising over the years
DROP something, sport? It’s part of the fabric of the state — the Keep South Australia Beautiful campaign. For 50 years it’s asked South Aussies to pick it up.
DROP something, sport?
That’s the question South Australians were told to ask whenever they saw someone throw rubbish on the ground.
It was 1974 and anti-litter group KESAB decided it was time to enlist the help of the entire state.
There were T-shirts, car rubbish bags, posters and a jingle as the KESAB publicity machine rolled out one of its most successful strategies.
The $5000 campaign was devised with the support of psychologist and social researcher Hugh Mackay, who reasoned it was a cheerful way of telling a stranger they had done the wrong thing.
“(The) message is clear, accusing and uncompromising,” he told The News at the time.
“Yet its colloquial and almost friendly style means it can be said without appearing offensive.”
What now sounds like a fairly daggy phrase, and almost certain to offend, was probably on the money in the 1970s.
KESAB — which stands for Keep South Australia Beautiful — had its finger on the pulse of Australian society and an impressive bag of marketing tricks to rival those of Senator Nick Xenophon.
The organisation recruited A-list actors, singers, sports stars, politicians and children’s characters to the cause.
It seems anyone who was anyone setting foot in SA was drafted to be in an advertisement.
The list includes fourth Doctor Who Tom Baker, actor Gary Sweet, ABBA, cricketer David Hookes, Raggedy Ann and Andy and Big Bird.
Next week marks 50 years since KESAB was founded, in 1966, in response to a burgeoning problem with disposable packaging.
In 1971, five years after founder Colin Hill started KESAB, he joined with his Victorian counterpart, Phyllis Frost, at KABVic, and founded Keep Australia Beautiful.
KESAB was instrumental in then securing artists including actor Jack Thompson and singer Slim Dusty to spread the anti-litter message Australia-wide.
Environment Minister Ian Hunter says KESAB is a true leader in creating sustainable communities.
“I congratulate them on their 50th anniversary,” he says.
“KESAB is regarded as one of the most respected and capable NGO environmental organisations, recognised in 2015 with the Sustainability Education Award by the United Nations Association of Australia.
“KESAB’s partnership with government and effective relationships with grassroots organisations is creating real change in the reduction of waste and increased rates of recycling in SA.”
Executive director John Phillips says KESAB was almost a natural response to the time in which it was born.
More people were eating out of the house, buying fast food, drinks and snacks in single-serve packaging.
They also were increasingly mobile, as car ownership continued to rise.
“It was a time in the 1960s when it was the emerging throwaway society,” Mr Phillips says.
“There wasn’t recycling or resource recovery.”
The simple and oft-repeated message of “put it in a bin”, along with the introduction of fines for littering and deposits on cans and bottles, persuaded most South Australians to clean up their act.
However, big crowds drawn to events such as Clipsal and the Fringe Festival in the city are still prone to leaving their mark.
“Eighty-five per cent of people do the right thing all the time but 15 per cent make it very ugly,” Mr Phillips says.
“SA is a proud state; respect the damage that litter can do.”
The Advertiser was one of six organisations which joined together to support the founding of KESAB on August 1, 1966.
The others were SA Brewing Company, Junior Chamber of Commerce — now Business SA, GM Holden, RAA and Australian Glass — AGM Ltd (now O-I Glass).
Awareness and action programs created by KESAB include Tidy Towns, Road Watch, Drop Something Sport, Wipe out Waste, Clean Site, APY PALYA Clean Communities, Litter Kills, Litter Less and the National Litter Index.
