A new faux-horror video by Halifax-based Egg Studios aims to drive awareness about the environmental impact of using K-Cups, the disposable coffee pods made by Keurig Green Mountain.
The video, called “Kill the K-Cup,” shows Halifax under attack, as people in the street get blasted by K-Cups and face the wrath of a Godzilla-like monster made of the plastic pods. K-Cups are not recyclable and the video claims that in 2014, there were enough discarded K-Cups to circle the earth 10.5 times.
“We had these K-Cup machines at home and all over the office and quickly realized that they were major polluters. We just kept filling up garbage bags with K-cups,” said Mike Hachey, CEO and executive producer at Egg Studios.
Hachey went looking for a greener alternative and landed on Social Bean Gourmet Coffee Co., and a partnership of sorts was born. “[Owner Doug Leblanc] was talking about how hard it is for people to get off of K-Cup systems because they’re cheaper for the office,” said Hachey. “They’re also super convenient and come with a huge variety.”
Hachey wound up giving tips for Social Bean’s social media strategy, like sharing articles about the environmental impact of K-Cups. Over a couple of months, Social Bean was getting some traction and at the same time, Egg Studios wanted a project that would showcase its talents, said Hachey.
“We wanted to do a combination of live action and animation because traditionally we would not have gotten a long-format project like this,” he said. “We’re growing a company in Atlantic Canada in this production and post industry where Toronto is the mecca.”
So, the “Kill the K-Cup” video was born, serving to showcase Egg Studios’ capabilities while establishing Social Bean Gourmet Coffee Co. as a better alternative to one-cup machines. “[The video] is something we feel is sharable, it’s a great cause, it’s something that needs more awareness,” said Hachey, who called it a “passion project.”
Egg Studios released the video on YouTube on Jan. 7, with the plan to keep the source anonymous for one week. On Jan. 14, the company sent out a press release that identified Egg Studios and Social Bean Gourmet Coffee Co. as the companies behind the cause.
Egg Studios and Social Bean Gourmet Coffee Co. also launched a website that features relevant articles and a Change.org petition that urges Keurig to make its pods recyclable. Keurig has said all of its K-Cups will be recyclable by 2020, but the petition says that’s not soon enough.
While there’s definitely a self-promotional element to the campaign, Hachey feels passionately about the environmental issue surrounding K-Cups.
“This is a much bigger thing than Social Bean and Egg,” he said. “This is something from a transparency or corporate responsibility level that Keurig has to own up to. As a result, our company and others will continue to push out the message that these products aren’t [environmentally] responsible.”
