Editing Don't Mess with Texas (section)

{{Short description|Anti-littering slogan in Texas}}
{{About|the slogan used by the Texas Department of Transportation|the album|Don't Mess wit Texas{{!}}''Don't Mess wit Texas''|the film that used the slogan as a working title|Hot Pursuit (2015 film){{!}}''Hot Pursuit'' (2015 film)}}
[[File:Donotmesswithtexas.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Sign used on Texas highways]]
"'''Don't Mess with Texas'''" is a [[slogan]] for a campaign aimed at reducing [[litter]]ing on [[Texas]] roadways by the [[Texas Department of Transportation]] (TxDOT). The phrase "Don't Mess with Texas" is prominently shown on road signs on major highways, television, radio and in print advertisements. The campaign is credited with reducing litter on Texas highways roughly 72% between 1987 and 1990.<ref name="success">Tim McClure and Roy Spence, ''Don't Mess with Texas: The Story Behind the Legend'', Idea City Press, 2006, p. 15. {{ISBN?}}</ref> The campaign's target market was 18- to 35-year-old males, which was statistically shown to be the most likely to litter.  While the slogan was not originally intended to become a statewide cultural phenomenon, it eventually did become one.<!--Cited below-->

Beyond its immediate role in reducing litter, the slogan has been popularly appropriated by Texans. The phrase has become "an identity statement, a declaration of Texas swagger" and [[Texas pride]].<ref name=2013NYTimes>{{cite news|last=Fernandez|first=Manny|title=Not to Be, Um, Trifled With, Texas Guards Its Slogans|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/15/us/not-to-be-um-trifled-with-texas-guards-its-slogans.html?_r=0|access-date=29 December 2013|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=14 September 2013}}</ref> Though the origin of the slogan is not well known outside of Texas, it appears on countless items of tourist [[souvenir]]s. Since the phrase is a federally [[registered trademark]], the department has tried at times to enforce its trademark rights with cease and desist letters,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jul-06-na-texas6-story.html |title=No Messing Around With Texas' Slogan |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=2004-07-06 |access-date=2011-03-20}}</ref> but has had very limited success. The slogan is the title of the book, ''Don’t Mess With Texas: The Story Behind the Legend''.

"Don't Mess with Texas" has been awarded a plaque on the Madison Avenue Walk of Fame and a place in the [[Advertising Hall of Fame]], a distinction given to only two slogans annually.<ref name="winner">{{cite news | url=http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/other/09/30/30dontmess.html?imw=Y | title='Don't Mess with Texas' named top ad slogan | publisher=Austin American-Statesman | author=Rockwell, Lilly | date=29 September 2006 | access-date=2006-09-30 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061010075121/http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/other/09/30/30dontmess.html?imw=Y <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2006-10-10}}</ref>

"Don't Mess with Texas" is also the official motto of the [[Virginia class submarine|''Virginia''-class]] [[submarine]] [[USS Texas (SSN-775)|USS ''Texas'']].

In 2011 the result of a public vote for the best "Don't Mess with Texas" ad over the last 25 years was revealed, the winner was one created by the [[Commemorative Air Force]] (then called the Confederate Air Force).<ref name="Winner of FAVORITE DON’T MESS WITH TEXAS AD OF PAST 25 YEARS">{{cite news |url=http://www.dontmesswithtexas.org/about/press/article/?year=2011&month=02&day=21 |title=Confederate Air Force wins best ad in 25 years |work=[[Texas Department of Transportation]] |date=2011-02-21 |access-date=2016-06-06 |archive-date=2016-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806063243/http://www.dontmesswithtexas.org/about/press/article/?year=2011&month=02&day=21 |url-status=dead }}</ref>  The ad involved the CAF's Boeing [[B-17]] "[[Sentimental Journey (aircraft)|Sentimental Journey]]" pursuing and retaliating against a truck from which trash was thrown.