Bengaluru City police has turned to their tried-and-trusted method of using pop cultural references to put across a message to the public. In the past, the city police's social media accounts have made references to Game of Thrones, Harry Potter and Stranger Things to hilarious effect.
Now, Bengaluru police social media has published another series of memes raising awareness about offences like using drugs, driving without a helmet and drunk driving using humour and pop culture. On Wednesday, the social media account of Bengaluru Police shared a meme urging social media users to inform the police about illegal drug peddling.
The meme is in reference to an image taken from Chappelle's Show, an American comedy show from the 2000s, in which Chappelle says the line "Modern problems require modern solutions". The still became popular as a meme in December 2018.
Earlier on Sunday, a post referenced a popular catchphrase from Ridin', a song from the rapper Chamillionaire.
The social media account is also sharing memes in Kannada. On Tuesday, a meme discussed the dangers of using the phone while driving. In the meme, Lord Yama warns riders that 'calls made while driving could connect to him too'.
Another post last week informed users about the #10secschallenge to highlight the use of helmets while riding.
In 2017, Bengaluru police had brought in Bengaluru-based marketing startup Crowd Kart to take over the city police’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. It led to a spurt of memes from the account referencing popular TV shows like Game of Thrones which shot the Bengaluru Police to popularity on social media.
Since then, the social media cell of the police has earned a reputation for coming up with innovative ways to connect with residents of the city.