04-05-2025
Documents: New Mexico spent $3.6 million on anti-littering campaign
With New Mexicans' penchant for littering on roadways and other public places, breaking the bad habit is no easy feat.
Whether it's a cigarette butt or a fast food wrapper, litter is an ongoing — and ugly — problem across the state.
But the administration of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says it is seeing "encouraging engagement metrics" as a result of what has grown into a $3.6 million anti-littering campaign featuring Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston, whose portrayal of chemistry teacher-turned-drug-kingpin Walter White earned him accolades and a loyal fan base in New Mexico, where the award-winning TV series was set.
MLG and Cranston (copy)
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Bryan Cranston discuss a new anti-littering campaign starring the Breaking Bad actor at the governor's mansion in October.
Dubbed "Breaking Bad Habits," the campaign is part of a larger effort by the governor to clean up what is arguably one of the most scenic states in the Southwest. Lujan Grisham, who picks up trash from public places even when no one is looking, has made beautifying New Mexico one of her priorities in her second and final term in office.
"New Mexico is beautiful, and on our watch, we're going to make sure that it stays that way," Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, said when she unveiled the campaign during a screening at Santa Fe's Jean Cocteau Cinema in October.
More than $2.4 million in media buys, from bus wraps and billboards to commercials on TV and various social media platforms, accounts for the bulk of the highly visible campaign. The campaign started with a total budget of $3 million, but an additional $640,000 was spent on more media buys.
Invoices and other documents obtained under a public records request show a $20,000 contract "furnishing the services of Bryan Cranston." During a meet-and-greet with Cranston at the governor's mansion, also in October, Cranston said he volunteered to appear in the campaign but explained "must be paid through [his] union' whenever he's on camera. At the time, Cranston said he had donated the money to two "New Mexico-centric charities."
The documents show Somos Unidos Foundation, a soccer and health-focused charity affiliated with the New Mexico United soccer team, and Albuquerque's Roadrunner Food Bank each received $10,000 in Cranston's honor.
Breaking Bad Habits 3 (copy)
A screenshot from "Breaking Bad Habits," a state anti-littering ad campaign featuring Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston in his old Walter White character.
Jodi McGinnis Porter, a spokesperson for the governor, said the anti-littering message is resonating.
"The Breaking Bad Habits campaign shows encouraging engagement metrics with over 100 cleanup events submitted to [the campaign's] online calendar in 2025," she said in a statement. "April alone saw 17 events resulting in 8,002 bags of trash collected by 429 volunteers across 1,212 volunteer hours, demonstrating positive momentum through widespread participation in cleanup efforts statewide."
Cody Johnson, a spokesperson for the New Mexico Tourism Department, agreed the state has seen encouraging engagement with the campaign related directly to litter cleanup efforts. He expects to see more cleanup activity in warmer months.
"A big part of this campaign is to inspire New Mexicans to feel a stronger sense of pride of place and change behavior so people would stop littering," Johnson wrote in an email. "This campaign launched in October so while it may take some time to see how that behavior changes for the better, we're hopeful that New Mexicans will be reminded of their role in helping us eliminate litter and we will see that change through action."
Johnson echoed seeing "encouraging engagement" so far.
"Cleanup events have been hosted in communities such as Deming, Pecos, Rio Rancho, Carlsbad, Silver City, Española, Las Vegas, Santa Fe, Hobbs, Albuquerque, Roswell, Cerillos, Clovis, Raton, Taos, Bernalillo, Farmington, Questa and more," he wrote.
"People are certainly taking notice of the campaign," Johnson added. "Just social media boosted posts of cleanup events have generated nearly 600,000 impressions and over 6,000 click-throughs to the Breaking Bad Habits website."
