News
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April 30, 2010
Aisha Tyler and World's Greatest 'Dreamgineers' Help US Veterans
The actress and comedian assembles a "crack" team of dream engineers to design a machine that turns recycled bottles into jobs for US veterans (with some help from PepsiCo and Waste Management).
Recycling has revolutionized the world in a lot of ways, but let's face it, so far, the only form in which things like plastic bottles and paper are reincarnated are usually exactly the same as in their first lives. That's why PepsiCo, Waste Management, Aisha Tyler and the team from Cracked.com's new "Dream Machine" is so revolutionary. It turns recycled plastic bottles into jobs for US veterans. Bet you never thought your old bottles could turn into something that good.So how do they do it? According to the Dream Machine Facebook page, "When a bottle or can is deposited, the Dream Machine is activated in three ways: (1) the environment gets a little greener; (2) consumers earn points that can be collected and redeemed for rewards; and (3) American veterans with disabilities receive training and education to start their own business. With each bottle recycled in a Dream Machine, PepsiCo will also make a donation to Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV). EBV offers experiential training in entrepreneurship and small business management to post-9/11 veterans with disabilities, opening the door to business ownership for our veterans."
Think about how many plastic bottles the average person uses in a week. PepsiCo and Waste Management will be placing the Dream Machines in highly trafficked public venues like gas stations, convenience store parking lots and public parks to make sure they collect as many of these bottles as possible when they're discarded. Partnering organizations such as Keep America Beautiful will make sure the "closed-loop system" that keeps recyclables with other recyclables (and not with other refuse) is maintained to help protect the environment.
To help raise awareness about the new program, the two companies brought comedic masterminds Aisha Tyler (she of Talk Soup and Ross Gellar-dating fame) and the Cracked.com team on board. They filmed a great video for the campaign in which Ms. Tyler and an assistant from Cracked.com strategize over what a "Dream Machine" actually is. Along the way, they meet a boy band named Dream Machine and a crazed mad scientist whose budget includes a large chunk specifically allocated for magical wishes. In the end, however, they find the key to what makes a successful dream machine: recycling (but it's not as cheesy as it sounds, promise!).
"We're gonna cut the part of your budget dealing with magical wishes because, last time I looked, uh, not a thing, okay. But, I love the recycling part because recycling, that's not just about getting rid of your cans and bottles, that is about hope. That is why for every item that people recycle in your Dream Machine, we are going to help veterans get new jobs. That is what I'm talking about. That's a dream. It might not be magic, but it sure comes close."
Changing the World: Harder Than it Looks (Feat. Aisha Tyler) — powered by Cracked.comScreengrab courtesy of Cracked.com.Source: Tonic.com
www.myspace.com/aishatyler
