The archive · Public & Social · Product decision · 2016
MotoRepellent: Bangkok motorcycle exhausts become rolling mosquito repellent
BBDO Bangkok fits motorbike exhausts with a heated repellent filter, turning Bangkok's streets into a rolling dengue defence — Ad Stars Grand Prix.
Duang Prateep Foundation · BBDO Bangkok
What it had to solve
Mosquito-borne disease surged across Thailand, with a 207% increase in dengue patients in 2015, and crowded slums were hit hardest. The Duang Prateep Foundation, which serves slum communities, asked BBDO Bangkok to protect residents who cannot afford repellents.
How it works
In 2015 Thailand recorded a more than 207% increase in dengue patients, one of the worst years in recent memory for mosquito-borne disease. The heaviest burden fell on the crowded slums of Bangkok, where residents could not easily afford repellents and where stagnant water bred mosquitoes around every corner.
The Duang Prateep Foundation, a non-profit that works with slum communities, asked BBDO Bangkok for help. The agency's insight was simple: mosquitoes are everywhere in Bangkok — and so are motorcycles. Rather than hand out repellents, they would turn the city's own traffic into a repellent.
The result was MotoRepellent: a lightweight, mobile device filled with non-toxic mosquito-repelling oil, attached magnetically to the end of a motorcycle's exhaust pipe. Heat from the exhaust activates the oil, and exhaust pressure propels the scent into the air, repelling mosquitoes within a few metres as bikes pass. Because motorcycles are the main transport in the slums, they reach every narrow alley and every corner of the community.
The accompanying film told the story plainly — the statistics, the device, the residents trying it — and the idea travelled far beyond Bangkok. It won the Grand Prix of the Year in the public service category at AD STARS 2016, a Gold in Outdoor and Silver in Design, and the Grande for Humanity at ADFEST 2016, contributing to BBDO being named Network of the Year.
Why it lands
- It uses infrastructure that already exists: motorcycles are everywhere in Thai slums, so the defence rides with the traffic instead of asking people to change behaviour.
- The mechanism is self-powered: exhaust heat both activates the oil and propels the scent, so the device needs no electricity, batteries or maintenance by residents.
- It reached the hardest places: bikes navigate narrow alleys that trucks and outreach teams cannot, pushing protection into every corner of the community.
- The invention was packaged as a story, so a technical device became a campaign that residents, juries and the public could all understand at a glance.
What it did
The campaign won the Grand Prix of the Year (Public Service) at AD STARS 2016 with a US$10,000 prize, plus a Gold in Outdoor and Silver in Design, and the Grande for Humanity at ADFEST 2016 — helping BBDO take Network of the Year.
What you can take
Use infrastructure that is already everywhere: instead of distributing repellent door to door, turn Bangkok's ubiquitous motorcycles into a mobile defence that reaches alleys trucks cannot.
Since then
The foundation introduced the filters to slum residents, who shared in the film how easy they were to use, while the campaign carried the idea internationally. The AD STARS jury noted that the Thai government was taking the approach up, and BBDO Bangkok capped the year by being named Network of the Year at ADFEST 2016, with MotoRepellent as one of its flagship wins.
Sources
- Campaign spotlight: MotoRepellent Saving lives one ride at a time
- AD Stars 2016 Grand Prix of the Year: Y&R's 'McWhopper' and BBDO's 'Motorepellent'
- Cultural campaigns take home metals at ADFEST 2016, BBDO is Network of the Year
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