Arts & Lifestyle

Bill Nye the Bottle Guy

(Coca-Cola, 2022)

In 2022, the Coca-Cola company created a stop-motion PSA featuring longtime educator and entertainment personality Bill Nye.

"As we know, we need to reuse plastic," says Nye. "That’s why I’m partnering with The Coca-Cola Company to show the science behind the process of recycling and how we can continue to address the global plastic waste crisis, together" (Reynolds, 2022).

Produced for The Coca-Cola Company by Mackinnon & Saunders, the animators and puppeteers behind feature films like Fantastic Mr. Fox, Corpse Bride, and more, the film features an animated (and recycled) version of Nye who explains the end-to-end recycling process (Reynolds, 2022).

This new film highlights that recycling is critical to “closing the loop,” or using and reusing the materials in plastic bottles again and again (Reynolds, 2022).

Beyond the recycled puppet of Nye, packaging materials from Coca-Cola packaging, including plastic bottles, labels, and cardboard were incorporated into every aspect of the short. Trees were made by reusing Sprite labels and conveyor belts designed from recyclable cardboard, creating a film that embodies recycling, design, and function (Reynolds, 2022).

The message of this short film has garnered mixed reviews, with some saying that Coca-Cola is acting hypocritically - guilting people into recycling while producing large amounts of plastic every year (Beyond Plastics, 2022). However, this short film is interesting due to the material that is used to create it. Many stop-motion films have been created using found materials, but this one in particular utilizes an internal waste stream, being made mostly of Coca-Cola products. This choice draws attention to a possible end point of what recycling these plastic products could be, while the content of the PSA shows a different end point: becoming a new recycled Coca-Cola bottle. Regardless of the effectiveness of the message, this short film puts recycled material on display in a fun and engaging way.

References

Reynolds, M. (2022, May 10). Bill Nye the science guy and Coca-Cola teach recycling. Packaging World.
https://www.packworld.com/sustainable-packaging/article/22184886/bill-nye-the-science-guy-and-cocacola-teach-recycling

WATCH: Plastics Recycling is a big, fat LIE. (2022, April 19). Beyond Plastics.
https://www.beyondplastics.org/plastics-recycling-is-a-lie

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