If you’ve ever visited Mumbai, you would know the city has a major traffic problem. About 70 per cent of the noise pollution on Mumbai’s streets is due to excessive honking.
Since no honking signs and fines fell on deaf ears, the Mumbai Police and FCB India came up with a humorous way of teaching habitual honkers a lesson.
At some of the city’s busiest junctions, they installed decibel meters onto the signal poles. When the honking went over 85 dB, the countdown timer on the signal would reset, making impatient motorists wait for double the time.
A film of this solution was created and posted on social media, and within hours of being posted, it started a nationwide conversation on noise pollution caused by motorists.
Horn not okay, please!
Find out how the @MumbaiPolice hit the mute button on #Mumbai’s reckless honkers. #HonkResponsibly pic.twitter.com/BAGL4iXiPH— Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) January 31, 2020
Although the campaign had a $0 media budget, it was picked up by new outlets across the world owing to its humorous nature and featured in over a thousand articles (including this one).
A fantastic way to curb noise pollution and bring about a positive change in society!