FCB’s ‘Punishing Signal’ Dominates Day One at Cannes Lions Festival 

FCB makes India proud yet again with their globally acclaimed campaign the ‘PUNISHING SIGNAL’ for Mumbai Police, by winning five Lions, including  the Gold Lion on day one of the prestigious Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2021!  

With the core focus on Purpose, Innovation, and Tech, the Punishing Signal has been awarded a Gold Lion and a Silver Lion in the Health & Wellness category under the  category description Non-profit / Foundation-led Education & Awareness. The campaign also won a Silver Lion and two Bronze Lion in the Outdoor category under the category description Ambient Outdoor, Single-market Campaign, and Social Behaviour. The campaign also secured a shortlist in the Health & Wellness category. 

On the occasion of winning Gold Lion for consecutive three years at Cannes and FCB’s  commitment to purposeful creativity, Rohit Ohri, chairman & CEO, FCB Group India, said: “Once is an accident. Twice is a coincidence. Three times is a habit. Our Gold Lion hat-trick at Cannes is testimony to FCB Group India making creative excellence a habit.” 

Delighted with the win, Robby Mathew, vice chairman & CCO, FCB Interface, said: “All the credit for these five Lions goes to Mumbai Police, for believing in the idea, installing the  Punishing Signals across Mumbai, and then tweeting the humorous video to the whole wide world!” 

About the Punishing Signal 

Mumbai is one of the noisiest cities in the world. Mumbaikars honk even when the signal  is red! Needless to say, this noise pollution is making the city alarmingly unhealthy to live in. The Mumbai Traffic Police partnered with FCB Interface and came up with an innovative  solution - The Punishing Signal to tackle the honking menace in the city. As a part of the activation, special decibel meters were connected to traffic signals across the city. When the decibel level exceeded a dangerous 85dB, the signal timer would simply reset itself. Thus punishing the impatient honkers by making them wait longer at the signal.  

With 6.6 billion impressions, the campaign became the Most Liked & Shared, and the #1 Indian topic, all social media taken. International news outlets in over 35 countries covered the campaign in over 1000 articles! 

Among the 48 shortlists from India at Cannes this year, FCB India Group secured 12 shortlists for its agencies as a part of the India challenge. FCB Ulka with a total of four shortlists. Two shortlists each for the ‘Out and Proud Classified’ campaign done for The Times of India in the Print & Publishing category and Direct category. FCB  Interface’s ‘Punishing Signal’ done for the Mumbai Police secured a total of eight  shortlists, with three shortlists in the Outdoor category, two shortlists each in the Health & Wellness and Direct category, along with one shortlist in the PR category.