How “Walter White” is Cleaning Up the Streets of New Mexico
The lead character from Emmy-award winning show Breaking Bad, Walter White, is all set for his new breakout role. And no it isn’t in a hit spinoff — but a public service advertisement urging residents of New Mexico to clean up after themselves.
The ad campaign “Breaking Bad Habits” premiered at a private theater in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Thursday, October 17. In it, we see actor Bryan Cranston reprise his role as Walter White as he rolls a steel drum into the desert and picks litter up with his hand. “Keep litter out of my territory,” he says, in his character’s iconic menacing voice.
The ad is part of a larger campaign by the state of New Mexico to prevent littering.
This is crucial, the state said, because a significant chunk of New Mexico’s revenue comes from tourism and outdoor filmmaking. The government has spent about $3 million so far on various billboards, ads, and cleanup drives.
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham told the Associated Press that she hopes bringing in someone of Bryan Cranston’s stature will help draw attention to the problem. A majority of Breaking Bad, which won 16 Emmys, was set in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Cranston, on his part, was equally committed to the drive. The actor was reportedly paid $200,000 for the campaign, but put most of that money back into local charities.
“This is my state, and I want it clean,” he told reporters. “If they can just wrap their arms around that, then everyone’s experience, whether you’re a tourist or a resident, will be improved. There’s a lot to love. It’s not just the physical beauty.”
This isn’t the first time Cranston has reprised his popular character for an ad either.
Earlier this year, he appeared along with his former co-star Aaron Paul in a PopCorners Super Bowl commercial, written and directed by Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan.
In 2015, Walter White appeared in one of his earliest commercials — urging audiences to sign up for Esurance in his highly-recognizable yellow hazmat suit.
Breaking Bad, of course, is one of the most popular shows ever created.
In fact, it’s so popular that in 2013, it entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the most critically acclaimed show of all time. In 2013, critics from the popular film review site Rotten Tomatoes ranked it as the best TV series of the last 25 years.
