Pushing for safer roads through outrage!

Mission: Tamil Nadu has the unfortunate distinction being the Number 2 state in India for traffic related accidents. Rules are seldom followed and everyone turns a blind eye even to the most blatant violations. The Times of India (TOI) wanted to sensitise and engage Chennaiites in a move to improve road safety and awareness, but in a way that would provoke action and introspection. 

Our creative solution took the form of a fun and quirky campaign under the theme ‘Roads so Annoying’, which encouraged people to turn their road rage into outrage and share stories of traffic violations. The campaign which broke on social media seemed to touch a chord with every road user, breaking TOI’s own record for engagement achieved by a city specific campaign!

Road Rage to Outrage

Our task was to shake the average Chennaiite out of their apathy to bad roads and traffic violators and get them to act. By doing so, we hoped that they would be more aware of their own road behaviour and improve it over time.

The campaign needed universal appeal, extendability and had to remain engaging over a period of time. 

We started with a list of common violations – signal jumping, wrong side overtaking, rash driving, riding without a helmet, going triples on a bike… there was no dearth of material to choose from! 

Our job was to find the right ‘vehicle’ to showcase this endless list! Thus the ‘Roads so Annoying’ theme and concept was born. 

Everyone finds ‘Roads so Annoying’

The campaign became a series of short stories of various, highly annoying traffic violators. The quirky tone was perfect to address the seriousness of the issue, while keeping it humorous & light. The simple yet lively caricatures lifted the creative and gave it a unique look. 

The annoying series also had a call out asking people to Whatsapp their most annoying moment on the roads. The series hit a high when popular musician and influencer Arivu composed and performed the Roads So Annoying Anthem.

A complete green signal all the way!

The campaign touched a chord because every single road user had an annoying story or moment in their lives! 

22 million + – Engagement across digital platforms, the first for a Times of India City based campaign.

17 million – Video views of the campaign anthem, stories, reels and videos