In 2025, the Nashville Department of Transportation approached us ready to take a bold swing to curb the city’s ongoing litter problem.
How do you turn an anti-litter campaign into something city residents actually want to engage with? In a town of storytellers and songwriters, we turned to local lore and original music to create a campaign impossible to ignore.
The Challenge
Bringing Nashville’s Litter Into the Light
With approximately 88 million pieces of litter on Tennessee roadways and nearly 1,000 litter-related complaints in the prior year alone, the issue demanded both attention and originality.
To move forward, we took a look back.
Many here in Tennessee recall a PSA in the 1970s led by the Tennessee Department of Transportation titled “Tennessee Trash.” In the spot, Tennesseans met a littering menace, a man who roamed state roads leaving trash in his wake.
Some 50 years since the original campaign, we asked ourselves: What’s his legacy?
The Work
Enter Trashley.
She’s the unapologetic daughter of the original campaign’s front man named for her propensity to litter just like her daddy. Trashley is a gritty local who is deliberately over the top, embodying bad behaviors in an effort to educate Nashvillians on what not to do.
We partnered with a local songwriter to create an original song from Trashley’s point of view. To further underscore the campaign’s importance, we leveraged our connections and tapped Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell who lent his voice and support.
Our fully integrated campaign launched with broadcast, digital, out-of-home, experiential and paid media. A robust public relations effort included appearances on news outlets and at Nashville-area events (including CMA Fest).
The results
Moving the Needle. And the Trash.
The campaign delivered major engagement for NDOT: 19.8 million TV impressions, 2.1 million digital out-of-home impressions, 1.7 million views on YouTube and over 1.6 million social ad impressions.
Most importantly, it laid the groundwork for lasting behavior change. Following the campaign, the city saw a 59% decline in litter reports.
20M+ TV Impressions
~2M+ Digital Out-of-Home Impressions
2M+ Views on YouTube
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