US Ad of the Day: United Airlines names Oscar the Grouch as its ‘chief trash officer’
In United Airline’s new campaign, the Sesame Street star gets paid for focusing on what he loves – trash – which, in turn, helps the planet.
United Airlines has hired Oscar the Grouch as its first-ever chief trash officer, per the airline’s latest consumer education campaign.
The work, which features Oscar in over 30 pieces of original video, digital, social and out-of-home content, follows Sesame Street’s iconic trashcan-dweller from the airline’s job-listing to assuming the C-suite role in a cushy office, alongside real United employees.
Jokes aside, the work shines a light on United’s real investment in achieving net zero by 2050. The airline pledges to soon fuel its airplanes with agricultural and household waste, through a technology called sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF. The solution blends trash with conventional jet fuel, reducing lifecycle CO2 emissions by up to 80%, according to Airbus.
The campaign was developed by the creative agency 72andSunny and directed by Academy Award nominees Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton through Bob Industries, a Santa Monica-based production company.
“United is invested in helping transform Oscar’s favorite kinds of garbage material into sustainable aviation fuel,” 72andSunny’s chief creative director, Lauren Smith, said in a statement shared with The Drum. ”So, he was the obvious, entertaining choice for educating about SAF in a way I dare anyone not to love.”
Credits
Agency: 72andSunny
Production company: Bob Industries
Directors: Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton
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