Hefty has debuted a limited-edition Halloween costume this year that is pure trash — in the best way possible.
The brand is honoring sanitation workers this Halloween with a toddler-sized Hefty Garbage Collector costume.
The adorable outfit is available online for just $5.49 and comes complete with bright orange overalls, a reflective vest, warm gloves, and a matching hat.
Too cute! Hefty is honoring sanitation workers this Halloween with a toddler-sized Hefty Garbage Collector costume
What a look! The adorable outfit is available online for just $5.49 and comes complete with bright orange overalls, a reflective vest, warm gloves, and a matching hat
‘At Hefty, we know that garbage collectors are real-life superheroes who prove their strength and dedication every day, and our kids recognize that too when they wait at the window for them to go by each week,’ Nicole Buddin, senior brand manager at Reynolds Consumer Products, said in a press release.
So this year, the brand is ‘giving kids the chance to dress up as their unsung garbage collector heroes for a price parents will love.’
The costume fits most two- to four-year-olds, and a new batch goes on sale every weekday at noon, until supplies run out.
In addition to the too-cute four-piece outfit, the costume also comes with a kid-sized rolling garbage bin.
Biggest fans: The brand is ‘giving kids the chance to dress up as their unsung garbage collector heroes for a price parents will love’
There’s something in it for parents, too, besides the memorable photos: Each shipment also includes a box of Hefty Ultra Strong trash bags.
Sanitation employees are among the essential workers who have continued to work throughout the pandemic, even in cities where COVID-19 cases have skyrocketed.
But even before these uncertain times, garbage collectors were certainly among the professionals who often found enthusiastic fans in children.
In 2016, then-two-year-old Lance Rufus made headlines for striking up a friendship with his local sanitation worker, James Jackson.
The little boy would rush outside every Monday, ready to greet his friend James, who drives a garbage truck in Plano, Texas.
‘It’s like, he’s eating breakfast, he hears it, he stops and says, “Garbage truck!” We have to get him out of the high chair and run to the back,’ the toddler’s mom told KTVT.
Cutie! In 2016, then-two-year-old Lance Rufus made headlines for striking up a friendship with his local sanitation worker, James Jackson
Besties: The little boy would rush outside every Monday, ready to greet his friend James, who drives a garbage truck in Plano, Texas
Dwarfed by the large bins, which are nearly twice Lance’s height, the toddler pushes his own miniature recycling bin to the curb, ready to greet his friend James.
He even dressed up as his hero for Halloween that year, and owns his own neon yellow reflective vest to match James’ uniform.
James, looked forward to their weekly visits, saying: ‘A youngster that’s so excited…I said, “Man, is he going to be there again?” I would always wonder. ‘It makes it all sweet when you see someone who really likes what you do.’
James also gave the toddler a toy bank in the shape of a recycling bin, another one of Lance’s treasured possessions.
That same year, Cohen Mahoney was thrilled when employees of Republic Services, a waste collection company in his hometown of Lafayette, Louisiana, gave him a toy garbage truck for his seventh birthday.
Cohen, who had been fascinated by garbage trucks for years and wanted to be a trash collector when he grows up, also got a gift basket, trash cans, and clothing with his name monogrammed.
Best birthday ever: Cohen Mahoney got a special surprise for his seventh birthday in 2016 when the local trash collectors stopped by his house to give him a present
‘Every time we drive somewhere, he’s pointing out the different trucks, and he’ll look at the different garbage cans,’ his mother told KATC.
‘He’ll get on Kids YouTube and look at the different mechanics and the different types of arms and is it an old-fashioned, is it a new one, does it have the lift from the front or the lift from the side.’
Meanwhile, a little girl named Brooklyn was equally excited to give her local Illinois garbage man a cupcake on her birthday.
Brooklyn’s mother Traci Andracke explained on Facebook that her daughter’s favorite day of the week was Thursday — because she got to wave to local garbage collector Delvar Dopson.
‘For about a year now, Brooklyn has anxiously awaited the garbage truck’s arrival at our house,’ she said.
‘It started with waving from the window, then we had to try and be outside to wave, and when we missed the truck driving by the house, I’d drive around the neighborhood to find the garbage truck and wave… on our way out the door in the mornings.
Smile! Meanwhile, a little girl named Brooklyn was equally excited to give her local Illinois garbage man a cupcake on her birthday
Special moment: Brooklyn’s mother Traci Andracke explained on Facebook that her daughter’s favorite day of the week was Thursday — because she got to wave to Delvar Dopson
‘Every… Thursday, my heart is full when I see the joy that our amazing garbage man brings Brooklyn when he honks and waves at her with a BIG smile,’ she added.
On Brooklyn’s birthday that year — which fell on a Thursday — she ran out to meet Delvar with a cupcake in hand.
‘We were waving like usual and I motioned for him to come over by us. He pulled over, got out and gave us his BIG smile. Brooklyn was instantly speechless as she handed him the cupcake,’ Andracke added.
Dopson told Andracke that he was just as excited to see Brooklyn every Thursday as she is to see him.
‘He said he doesn’t have any kids of his own, but he mentors several children and just loves them,’ she wrote.
Andracke said that on the way to daycare, Brooklyn was unusually silent. When Andracke asked her how she was she said: ‘Mommy, I’m so happy.’