The BC Used Oil Management Association (BCUOMA) is releasing a video series inspired by YouTube cleaning life hacks,  featuring an affable auto mechanic.

“How to Clean Everything” is hosted by Ken, who leads viewers through a series of jokey (but informative) instructional videos about how to clean things one would not typically turn to a mechanic for, such as makeup brushes, airpods and kitchens. Like last year’s similarly silly campaign, this creative was developed by Here Be Monsters, and more entries in the series are coming this fall.

According to Matt Bielby, CD at Here Be Monsters, it took inspiration from the pandemic reality in which people were at home watching and sharing how-to videos and life hacks, especially for deep-cleaning projects people might have otherwise been putting off. He says that in order to give it an automotive twist, and to draw comparisons to motor oil, it delivered the cleaning tutorials “through the slightly skewed eyes of a blue-collar mechanic. After all, mechanics just want to solve people’s problems.”

The campaign builds on the insight that most things, including used motor oil, simply need to be cleaned so they can be used again – for BCUOMA, an organization dedicated to the collection and recycling of lubricating oil, oil filters, oil containers, antifreeze and antifreeze containers. With “How to Clean Everything,” the approach is decidedly less traditional than previous campaigns, in which throwing out things that did not need throwing out was represented absurdly by a cyclist trying to heave his dirty bike into a lake before a companion intervenes.

“COVID hit B.C. just as we were briefing for the annual awareness campaign,” says Kelly Duran, communications director BCUOMA. “And while we needed to be present in traditional media, we also quickly realized this was a time to explore new and innovative ways of connecting with an audience that would be spending more time at home and online.”

BCUOMA operates a province-wide collection and recycling program for used oil, used antifreeze, oil filters and related containers for both do-it-yourself consumers as well as the commercial and industrial markets. According to the group’s latest annual report, each year, approximately 50 million litres of oil and 3 million liters of antifreeze are collected and responsibly managed through its BCUOMA program.

Oddfellows Labs assisted with production, while Wirtz took care of media buying. Soma Concepts and Solutions did the public relations.