There’s a new C-suite title and it’s absolute trash.

United Airlines just appointed Oscar the Grouch as its Chief Trash Officer.

Oscar the Grouch is a furry green Grouch who lives in a trash can on Sesame Street, from the popular TV show of the same name.

This new character and campaign is a part of United’s attempt to popularize the innovative Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) over traditional jet fuel.

America’s fourth largest airline believes that the future of flight is Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), which could be made from things like banana peels, leftover cooking oil, woody biomass, and, yep, you guessed it—trash.

SAF is supposedly an alternative to normal jet fuel that can help fly a plane with reduced life cycle emissions.

But, United realizes that to popularize and promote change it needs to dress it up (even with trash) because one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. 

Change requires conversion.

Conversion requires a conversation.

Conversations require a campaign.

And campaigns require a character.

That’s where United may have succeeded in familiarizing people with a familiar character, in order to create a campaign aimed at catalyzing conversations and causing change. 

Duracell’s bunny, Pillsbury’s doughboy, GEICO’s gecko, Charmin’s bear, etc., are all examples of why characters stay in your memory more than campaigns do.