They named him Litter Pickin’ Pete.
He was the inspiration of creative minds in Ontario government offices in the 1960s. He intended to drive home to users of public lands the need to keep these places neat and tidy for the enjoyment of everyone.
In the town of Fancourt was a regional office of the Ontario Department of Lands and Forests, which administered public lands in the central part of the province. Stationed there was a public relations representative named Carl King, a conscientious former forester who took his job seriously.
That may have been why his Toronto bosses chose him to introduce the Litter Pickin’ Pete program. It also might have helped that the Minister’s private secretary was originally from Fancourt and knew many staff in that office, including Carl King.
So, when Carl received his assignment, he chose the weekly newspaper in Fancourt, The Bugle, to introduce Litter Pickin’ Pete to central Ontario. Being a government PR rep, Carl knew how small-town media worked and was familiar with most of The Bugle’s staff.
There was one exception, however.
He had not yet met The Bugle’s new publisher, a young and ambitious former advertising salesman named Charles Danby. Thus Carl was unaware that Charlie was also an incurable practical joker.
Pete, as we will call him for this story, was a roly-poly fellow with a chubby smiling face, almost clown-ish. His image was intended to be memorable — similar to forest fire preventer Smokey Bear in the U.S. Pete would appear on posters, promotional advertisements, and especially on the sides of litter bins and baskets at government sites. He was to be a cartoon with a serious message.
At The Bugle, Carl took this important project to the top man in the advertising department, publisher Charlie Danby himself.
Together, they came up with a plan to introduce Pete by way of his photo on the front page of The Bugle with a news story promoting the anti-litter campaign. At the same time, the government would blanket other media with the photo and news release, while The Bugle would gain modest prestige in leading the pack by several days.
Carl provided Charlie with the necessary materials for the front page photo — an image of Pete standing beside a litter bin with a big smile on his chubby face, and several other photos for use with random stories about the curse of litter in Provincial Parks. Among these was one with an attractive woman, who was the Minister’s secretary, Helen from Fancourt. Noting the local connection, Charlie assured Carl that this photo would run prominently on an inside page with further emphasis on preventing litter.
Carl was very pleased.
Charlie got to work, preparing the story himself as he would if it was paid advertising. He edited the news releases, emphasizing the local connection with the Minister’s secretary. He had the photos engraved and wrote captions for them. Then he had it all type-set and ready for printing.
At some point while doing this, Charlie was visited by his “joker devil”.
He liked Carl King, but deep down thought the PR man was taking Litter Pickin’ Pete just a teeny bit too seriously. Maybe he could play an innocent prank on Carl and lighten things up a little.
