Clik here to view.
Image courtesy of Geek.com
First published: July 17, 2014
With the recent upsurge in the number of dengue cases, Sri Lanka has taken a new approach to handle the situation with a unique approach. It’s a low tech solution that can have a high impact.
According to the report by Geek.com, the initiative was conducted by a local newspaper company there called Mawbima. The ad agency for the paper, Leo Burnett, realised that the hours that the Aedes mosquitoes are most active are the same as when the newspapers are read, which is in the morning and in the evening. The agency then came out with the idea of infusing mosquito-repelling citronella oil into the ink used for the printing of the newspapers.
Mawbima and Leo Burnett had also developed a special font for this campaign and used them for a few letters of the Sinhala language. The letters ran in the newspapers during the national dengue week and were also used in posters that were featured at bus stops. This was to help disseminate the message about Aedes mosquitoes and the dengue disease that they could be carrying. Geek.com also reported that citronella infused stickers were also distributed to students to keep them fever free.
Clik here to view.
Letters using the specially designed fonts
Mawbima reports that this is the first time that something like this has ever been done. This is an ingenious way to curb the spreading of this deadly disease but more importantly, to educate the public of its dangers. It’s reported that the newspaper’s circulation had increased by 300,000 during the campaign, indicating how exciting this mosquito repelling newspaper was to the Sri Lankans.
We wonder if these kinds of initiatives will show up in our papers. For those of us who consume their news in cyberspace on the other hand, perhaps Scentee might come out with citronella infused scents.
The post Here’s a newspaper that keeps mosquitoes at bay appeared first on TechAttack.my.