Mumbai: Ola, India’s most popular mobile app for transportation, flagged off a 360-degree integrated campaign titled ‘#FarakPadtaHai’ to generate awareness regarding growing traffic congestion and vehicular pollution in several cities.
The campaign was introduced by cricketer-turned-commentator, Virender Sehwag in a unique manner on Twitter. Under the campaign, Ola will be rolling out multiple on-ground and digital activities in the coming week.
Sehwag, one of India’s top opening batsmen, launched the #FarakPadtaHai campaign in his flamboyant style by sending out a rather strange tweet that took the Twitter verse by surprise.
“Global warning horaha hoga America mein. Traffic & congestions se India ke pollution par koi farak nahi padta. Concentrate on real issues!” – @virendersehwag
Within minutes of tweeting, Sehwag received a huge number of responses questioning him for his controversial statement. Twitter users retorted with facts and statements regarding traffic and congestion being the main reason for growing pollution levels in our cities. The activity led to an outburst on Twitter, and went viral across India.
“That’s surprising. Delhi, the city you are from, is one of the most polluted cities in the world and high traffic is one of the reasons.” – @Trendulkar
“Global warming IS THE REAL ISSUE. Biggest threat to our Planet. In your school, hire qualified Science teachers who don’t talk like you. Thx.” – @autumnrainwish
After being questioned and trolled for his strange tweet for over 5 hours, Sehwag made a heartfelt comeback revealing the larger objective and his message for all. He clarified that this was a part of Ola’s #FarakPadtaHai campaign aimed at garnering everyone’s attention towards growing traffic congestion in our cities, and encourage them to take action.
“Great to see so much concern. Traffic & pollution r real issues! This World Environment Day,Ola Share karo, congestion ghatao #FarakPadtaHai” – @virendersehwag
Vishal Kaul, COO at Ola said, “We are very excited to roll out our nationwide campaign #FarakPadtaHai. Shared mobility has far reaching benefits and has the capability of tackling issues of traffic congestion and pollution in a smart and sustainable manner. With traffic growing at alarming levels in our cities, it’s high time that we switch to shared mobility. Through Ola Share, we have been constantly rolling out campaigns, innovations, and activities that start conversations around issues like carbon emissions, fuel consumption, and growing traffic, and encourage action; this campaign is a step in that direction.” He further added,“We are thankful to Virender Sehwag who launched this campaign in such a unique manner and made it reach so many people within a few hours. It is important that celebrities and role models come forward to talk about pertinent issues such as congestion and pollution problems, and help spread the message farther using their influence.”
The activity and Sehwag’s message reached far and wide, achieving the intention of generating mass-level awareness. On Twitter, more than 30 million impressions for this activity were witnessed.
