After years of showing how recycled tires can find new life as anything from running tracks to playgrounds, Tire Stewardship BC (TSBC) decided to take a more direct approach to address those who dump their tires rather than turn them in.

The non-profit, which runs tire recycling programs in B.C., tapped frequent collaborator Here Be Monsters for the campaign.

The goal is to communicate the organization’s mission. With the sale of each tire in the province, Tire Stewardship collects an eco-fee that pays for the transportation and recycling of scrap tires once people are done with them, in order to divert them from landfills and keep people from dumping them in nature.

“Dumping tires is hazardous, illegal, and simply unnecessary,” says Rosemary Sutton, executive director at TSBC. “Our program covers all of B.C. and our group takes our work very seriously, especially knowing our wildlife and environment depend on us.”

That seriousness has come out in past efforts taken to showcase the non-profit, but this time around the organization brought a sense of humour forward in hopes of better connecting audiences that are both younger and “more receptive to quick and funny do-versus-don’t,” Matt Bielby, creative director at the agency, tells strategy.

In a pair of animated spots, the organization shows people who are met with “instant karma” after they dump their tires, be it in the form of an angry moose or giant octopus. The hope is that the ads will appeal to a generation of TV watchers used to animated comedies such as Family Guy or Rick & Morty.

“Nobody is pining for the next tire recycling message. We know it’s a low-interest category,” adds Bielby. “So we really dialed up the comedy with these videos … we rallied around the idea of instant karma. If you treat your tires right by recycling, everything is cool. And if you don’t? Well…”

The campaign is running primarily across digital media, including social and pre-roll, but there is a select TV buy. The hope, according to Bielby, is to extend the campaign and use the existing artwork in other media at a later date – as well as make fresh creative in the same vein next year, if these first two spots are well-received.