The Campaign

We wanted to find a way to reach every corner of the slums, so we looked at another slum infestation ... motorcycles. Because just like mosquitos, they are everywhere! Motorcycles are the slum residents primary mode of transportation, and they are small enough to navigate through the small alleyways of the slum communities. With or without the MotoRepellent filter, motorcycles drive though the slums all day, every day. So we wanted to make something good out it. MotoRepellent is a light-weight, mobile device filled with non-toxic mosquito repelling oil and magnetically attached to the end of a motorcycle’s exhaust pipe. Heat from the exhaust activates the oil and mosquito-repelling scent is propelled out into the air via exhaust pressure. As the motorcycles pass by, mosquitos within a radius of up to 3 meters are repelled, giving residents a safer, mosquito-free environment.

Creative Execution

With the help of Duang Prateep Foundation, we launched MotoRepellent into the local slum community using select community members with motorcycles who already spend a lot of time traversing the narrow slum alleys. This ensured that the device was used to directly help combat mosquitos in its intended area. After the initial launch, we presented the Duang Prateep foundation with additional cases of MotoRepellent filtres and repellent oil for further distribution to their local community leaders. MotoRepellent is durable and reusable, so all devices given are still in use. As this was a local CSR activity with very low budget, the initial campaign focused on a slum community that had a very large, dense population (apex 87k +) residents. However, given the resources, the scalability of MotoRepellent is promising.

Results

After the launch of MotoRepellent, the Duang Prateep Foundation has received an out-pouring of inquiries (both local and international, with regards to the MotoRepellent filter as well as to their general charitable activities - further raising the awareness of the slum community needs. According to the foundation, they have never received so many calls/inquiries since they were founded nearly 4 decades ago. As a preventative measure to help combat mosquito-borne illnesses, MotoRepellent gives members of the slum community another tool to help better their living conditions without directly imposing on their or the communities daily routines, and we continue to work with the foundation to ensure ongoing successful implementations of MotoRepellent.

MotoRepellent fits into this category because it provides a unique relationship-building experience between both the slum community and the Duang Prateep Foundation as well as between the general public and the Duang Prateep Foundation.In the first way, it exhibits a new and inventive way to combat a very local problem - mosquitos - bringing both appreciation for the charity as well as needed help of the community; and in the second way, it generates valuable local and global exposure for the foundation to raise awareness for itself and its causes.

With apx. 20% of Bangkok's estimated 6-8 million residents living in slums, our primary focus was to find a solution for the slum residents due to their limited access to mosquito prevention resources as well as limited healthcare access. With an increase in mosquito-borne illnesses, it was important for the slum communities to find some preventative measures to help curb the problem. We selected motorcycles as the vehicle for MotoRepellent due their prevalence within the slum communities and their ability to access every area of the slum. With the help of Duang Prateep Foundation, community members were selected to receive and utilize the MotoRepellet filters while going about their daily routines - thus facilitating the repelling of mosquitos throughout the slum.