A nonprofit group promoting civic-minded behavior in this tumultuous metropolis is channeling bin Laden, former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, Mother Teresa and US President George W. Bush to convince unruly drivers to change their ways.
The campaign by Muevete por Tu Ciudad -- roughly translated as "Do Something for Your City" -- was designed to improve everyday behavior on the streets of Mexico City, where cars drift through red lights and some police can be paid to look the other way.
Founders say their billboards and radio spots are designed to jolt the city's jaded commuters, police and public-transit drivers into courteous behavior.
"If the traffic sign is telling you and the police officer is telling you, who else do you want to tell you?" said Claudia Montero, co-director of Muevete, echoing the group's "who-else" slogan. "Do you want an assassin to tell you?"
Advertising firm Kastner & Partners in Mexico suggested using famous and infamous international figures, donating its design services and using free images in the public domain to craft the ads.
On one street-level billboard, the image of Saddam warns passers-by, "You can generate chaos: Don't you double park." Mother Teresa yells out, "Don't give bribes to the devil!"
Two radio spots, yet to be aired, parody Bush and Osama bin Laden.
"We are going to exterminate all of those who run red lights," Bush warns in Spanish with a heavy American accent. "People who ask for bribes are going to be punished by me. ... You are going to know what pain is."
In another ad, the voice of bin Laden warns in Spanish, "I am going to come out of hiding to punish, the way they deserve, taxi and bus drivers that don't drive well."
The billboard ads have prompted some incredulity. The Mexican newspaper Reforma this week announced in a front-page headline, "Saddam Hussein gives classes on civic behavior in Mexico City." It was accompanied by a photo of the ad.
"They may like it or not like it, but they comment on it," Montero said.
In other civic campaigns, Muevete volunteers have appeared in packs at traffic lights with hand-held stop signs to shame drivers into staying put until the next green. The group has handed out "citizen tickets," fake citations admonishing bad behavior with a thumbs-down diagram.
Muevete has not been alone in encouraging Mexico City residents to adopt a better attitude.
Commissioned by private donors to provide crime-fighting advice to Mexico City's police department, former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's consulting firm said city dwellers could play a key role by obeying traffic signals and not offering bribes to police officers.
Despite the good advice, local authorities have tried and failed so far to cultivate a culture of respect and cordiality in the streets, said Claudia Adeath, Muevete's other co-president.
Kouri Richins, a Utah mother who published a children’s book about grief after the death of her husband is to serve a life sentence for his murder without the possibility of parole, a judge ruled on Wednesday. Richins was convicted in March of aggravated murder for lacing a cocktail given to her husband, Eric Richins, with five times the lethal dose of fentanyl at their home near Park City in 2022. A jury also found her guilty of four other felonies, including insurance fraud, forgery and attempted murder for trying to poison her husband weeks earlier on Feb. 14, 2022, with a
‘PERSONAL MISTAKES’: Eileen Wang has agreed to plead guilty to the felony, which comes with a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison A southern California mayor has agreed to plead guilty to acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government and has resigned from her city position, officials said on Monday. Eileen Wang (王愛琳), mayor of Arcadia, was charged last month with one count of acting in the US as an illegal agent of a foreign government. She was accused of doing the bidding of Chinese officials, such as sharing articles favorable to Beijing, without prior notification to the US government as required by law. The 58-year-old was elected in November 2022 to a five-person city council, from which the mayor is selected
DELA ROSA CASE: The whereabouts of the senator, who is wanted by the ICC, was unclear, while President Marcos faces a political test over the senate situation Philippine authorities yesterday were seeking confirmation of reports that a top politician wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) had fled, a day after gunfire rang out at the Philippine Senate where he had taken refuge fearing his arrest. Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, the former national police chief and top enforcer of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs,” has been under Senate protection and is wanted for crimes against humanity, the same charges Duterte is accused of. “Several sources confirmed that the senator, Senator Bato, is no longer in the Senate premises, but we are still getting confirmation,” Presidential
HELP DENIED? The US Department of State said that the Cuban leadership refuses to allow the US to provide aid to Cubans, ‘who are in desperate need of assistance’ US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday said that Cuba’s leadership must change, as Washington renewed an offer of US$100 million in aid if the communist nation agrees to cooperate. Cuba has been suffering severe economic tumult led by an energy shortage that plunged 65 percent of the country into darkness on Tuesday. Cuba’s leaders have blamed US sanctions, but Rubio, a Cuban American and critic of the government established by Fidel Castro, said the system was to blame, including corruption by the military. “It’s a broken, nonfunctional economy, and it’s impossible to change it. I wish it were different,” he told
RSS