This isn’t the first instance of businesses using popular entertainment franchises as marketing gimmicks to spread awareness about their cause — and it won’t be the last. Over in the U.K., the supermarket chain ASDA has released its annual Christmas advert featuring none other than Will Ferrell’s Buddy the Elf. As cheesy as it is, nostalgia is good for the soul. Plus, Coco-Cola has been using Santa Claus as a mascot for years (did he give his consent for that, by the way?). Given the overwhelming popularity of The Lord of the Rings, it’s no surprise that J. R. R. Tolkien’s fantasy adventure saga would be next in line to be degraded. Listen, the ASDA ad and the Coco-Cola representation are excusable, but this Lord of the Rings reference is crossing a line. Still… someone, somewhere, will get a kick out of it.
There’s never a dull moment on Twitter, so when @fourhourtarget shared a candid shot of the ‘Lord of the Bins’ removal service, thousands of users found it amusing, if not devastating. The waste disposal company, which appears to be independently run by a Dan and a Nick, used a play on words for The Lord of the Rings title and even made a punny slogan to go along with it: “One Ring To Remove It All.”
Judging by the phone numbers for Dan and Nick, which begin with 07 (+44 area code), this can only be the U.K. — because of course it is. First, it was the ASDA/Buddy the Elf collaboration, now Dan and Nick and disgracing the good name of J. R. R. Tolkien. What next? Chucky meets Walmart? Anyway, if anyone across the pond happens to need a waste clearance truck, Dan and Nick are your guys. For U.S. citizens, maybe just give either of them a call and commend them for their valiant effort.