Toss Your Garbage Problems with Mill Recycling System Spots

Creative production agency Avocados and Coconuts recently partnered with Mill, the creator of the first food recycling system to deliver a new campaign with dramatic effect. Directed by Syra McCarthy, the 'Garbage Problems' campaign celebrates classic film genres such as suspense, horror, and adventure to encourage a new approach to food waste. The series of six spots, including cut-downs, will launch on OTT, and digital and social platforms throughout 2024.

The spots hilariously show the everyday horrors people endure when dealing with rotting food in their garbage, from donning a hazmat suit to staring down a gang of furry trash bandits. Each film concludes by highlighting the possibility of a waste-free future with the effortless, and intelligent tech of Mill’s food recycler.

“This campaign was born from a simple insight: A Mill food recycler can eliminate the everyday miseries of garbage - the smells, the pests, the constant schlepping to the curb. Garbage Problems is a series of very short films about trash, comparing the absurdity and futility of the current system with our innovative and fully automated solution. We crafted a handful of concepts that fell within classic film genres - horror, suspense, adventure, disaster. Then, we leaned into cinematic camera work, sound design, and performances to drive each concept home.” Said Chris Brown, executive creative director, Mill, who led this effort. “We’re proud of the work, and deeply appreciative of the partnership with Avocados and Coconuts in bringing our vision to life. We believe these films will resonate with everyone, and inspire them to do something better at home.”

“Everyone can relate to the stinky, messy pain of dealing with trash,” says Amani King, executive creative director of Avocados and Coconuts. “We loved this idea of not pushing the product too heavily; instead, we worked closely with the Mill team on a cinematic and narrative approach to convey that we all have ‘garbage problems’ in a playful and nuanced way. Mill presented us with great performance-driven scripts, which meant that we got to play in this fun sandbox when it came to elevating the overall creative and comedic moments.” 

'Garbage Problems' marks a continuation of the creative partnership between Mill and Avocados and Coconuts, with the two collaborating on the brand’s product launch announcement in 2022. In the latest campaign, casting was vital in depicting the interplay between the light and dark comedy in the spots. Director, Syra McCarthy drew from her own experience as an actor to guide authentic performances from the talent, so the comedy felt natural.

“It’s situational comedy,” explains Syra, “so the problems they find themselves in do a lot of lifting. Expression-wise, we wanted it to be honest and human while leaning into the genre of each piece. Since everything was non-verbal, body language played a big role in the storytelling. As an actor and dancer myself,” McCarthy continues, “I’m big on starting the feeling or thought within the body. All of our actors were brilliant in injecting subtle comedy through their movements and showing us what a character feels at that moment using a single step or shoulder shrug.”

“At Avocados and Coconuts, we’ve long espoused and believed in the power of sustainability,” concludes Dalia Burde, founder and executive producer of Avocados and Coconuts. “It’s a core ethos of our company, so we immediately aligned with Mill’s vision of leading from an organic place – both in terms of who they are as a brand and what they wanted creatively from this campaign. More importantly, we all understand that by bringing together art and story, we can push a product we firmly believe in and do our part to make a difference.”