A cute and cuddly animatronic soft toy that caughs whenever the air pollution goes beyond the recommended EU safety limits is contributing to raise awareness on the need to fight against this silent killer that causes far more deaths than traffic accidents on London roads.
The toy has been attached to street lamp posts in London’s pollution hotspots, where the levels of toxic air regularly exceed the recommended legal EU limits in a way that ressembles a memorial to mourn for a traffic accident victim. This reminds that air pollution causes nearly 40 times as many deaths as car accidents on London roads. Toxic Toby roadside memorial highlights the 9,400 premature deaths associated with this public health issue.
McCann London has conceived this campaign that also serves to show with the emotive power of a tiny plush bear that BreezoMeter’s advanced technology makes it easy to get real time information on the location of the hotspots where air pollution levels are high enough to cause human desease in order to avoid them or take prevention actions.
James Crosby and Will Cottam, McCann London’s Creatives behind Toxic Toby said: “The problem with pollution is that you can’t see it, so it’s easy to disregard as we go about our business. But Toxic Toby puts pollution and its harmful effects right in front of people’s eyes with something they can’t ignore. The combination of an animatronic soft toy twinned with an alarming cough certainly turns heads. And teaming up with BreezoMeter’s live, location-based pollution data allowed us to be reactive and target the worst offending areas to spread an important message.
BreezoMeter’s goal is democratizing pollution level data putting them on the hands of the people in an easy and accesible way. This empowers average citizens to shelter their health through real time data.
A 3D printed and high tech connected alarm device with the friendly sight of a teddy bear
The tiny bear is in fact an animatronic 3D printed robot. Toby is connected to BreezoMeter’s real-time, location-based air quality data. Whenever the data indicate that air pollution reaches dangerous high levels Toby caughs.
Each time that Toxic Tobi caughs a tweet is automatically sent to local MPs warning them that pollution levels have reached precarious limits and reminding them that they need to act.
Rising awareness on the silent killer
BreezoMeter’s CEO and Co-founder Ran Korber explains, “We believe that there are two ways to address the issues associated with air pollution, that are becoming more and more common in today’s news stories. The first is to reduce the amount of emissions, the actual pollution. This takes time and dedication, as well as great motivation from lawmakers and businesses, a real team effort. The second is an act we must do in parallel, and that is to understand that each of us can make better choices for our health if we are aware of what is in the air.
“Air pollution can be extremely dynamic, changing throughout the day, and from street to street. By democratising air quality data and raising awareness, through projects like Toxic Toby, we can choose a different time or place to exercise, to take our kids out to play, a different route to get to work or school. It’s a series of small decisions that can make a difference over time, especially with the knowledge that our governments are taking appropriate action as well. Everyone, the world over has the right to breathe in healthy air.”
Laurence Thomson, Chief Creative Officer at McCann London, said: “The pollution levels in our capital have reached a public health crisis. Children, commuters, all of us are exposed to unclean air on a daily basis risking our health and well-being. Latest TFL figures show that 116 people lost their lives to road traffic collisions, whilst a startling 9,400 died of illnesses related to poor air quality. These figures are nothing if not shocking and we think a cute, cuddly, coughing teddy bear, set up as a roadside memorial will provide the rude awakening needed to give this public health issue the attention it deserves.”
Image over the headline.- Toxic Toby. © McCann London
Related external links:
Toxic Toby McCann London for BreezoMeter (the film)
