TBWA Sri Lanka creates a sign of death barricade made from coconut leaves to stop drownings

Every year many pilgrims drown in one of the largest religious gatherings in Sri Lanka the annual Poson festival. AIA, as protectors of life wanted to prevent this crisis. The root cause of this problem was seen as ineffective warning signage. So, TBWA Sri Lanka created a simple ‘Gokkola’ (coconut leaf) barricade to mark off all hazardous bathing spots. It is a decoration usually used to adorn funerals in Sri Lanka and it successfully deterred pilgrims from bathing in danger zones. Thanks to AIA, not a single case of drowning was reported this year!

Credits – Chief Creative Officer: Subhash Pinnapola. Copywriters: Sohan Ratnaike, Dilan Herath. Associate CD/Art Director: Sachithra Gunarathna. Studio: Saminda Priyadarshana.