A Coughing Teddy Bear Warns About Air Pollution

By Yeojin Jung

 Have you seen a teddy bear coughing in the middle of the street? A robot teddy bear has appeared on Brixton Road, London and has been making people aware of air pollution. Its name is “Toxic Toby” and when air pollution levels are high enough to cause health problems, it puts its paw to his mouth and coughs. Toxic Toby moves to different places every day. Using BreezoMeter’s data to identify the most polluted cities in London, the McCann London company moves Toby from place to place. McCann London and BreezoMeter is planning Toxic Toby to leave London. James Crosby says, “We’re planning on taking Toxic Toby on a U.K. tour, and then to different countries around the world to spread our message that breathing clean air should be a human right.”.

    According to WHO Global Conference on Air Pollution and Health report, “There are 4.2 million deaths every year as a result of exposure to ambient (outdoor) air pollution and 9 out of 10 people worldwide breathe polluted air.”. London is one of the cities that have critical levels of air pollution. There are about 200 deaths caused by car accidents each year while more than 9000 people die from illnesses related to air pollution. Dr. Aarash Saleh from the Imperial College says,  “The air pollution in London is now becoming a public health crisis that we need to deal with right now.” Based on the London City Hall website, the biggest concern in London are particulate matter and Nitrogen dioxide which can cause asthma. Studies also show that particles smaller than ten microns can be inhaled deep into the lungs. When that happens, Lung function can be affected.

    The Toxic Toby campaign was pursued by McCann London. It is an advertising agency and they collaborated with BreezoMeter. They made Toxic Toby with 3D printed parts so it can move. He gets the pollution data from an application called “BreezoMeter”. This app monitors air pollution in real time and triggers Toxic Toby to cough when the pollution rate is above standard. When Toxic Toby coughs, it will send a warning message through twitter and will introduce some solutions to prevent getting illnesses. The World Health Organization says, “Toxic Toby is the perfect ambassador for our cause.” On why they started this project, Katya Escala, the Director of Communications at the advertising agency McCann London says, “People know about air pollution but because we cannot see air pollution, we tend to forget that it is there. We do not realize that we are constantly exposed to air pollution, and for this reason, we call it a ‘Silent Killer’. So, basically Toxic Toby gives a face to this silent and invisible killer. In addition, Londoners can log onto Toxic Toby’s website and see how toxic the air is in their location and they can send a tweet to the local MP demanding action. We really want an actual change.” They wanted Toxic Toby to be a teddy bear because it features a cute, cuddly, and soft toy fighting for the human right to breathe clean air. BreezoMeter’s CEO Ran Korber, think of air pollution like this. “We believe that there are two ways to address the issues associated with air pollution that is becoming more and more common in today’s news stories. The first is to reduce the number of emissions, the actual pollution. This takes time and dedication, as well as great motivation from lawmakers and businesses, a real team effort. The second is an act we must do in parallel, and that is to understand that each of us can make better choices for our health if we are aware of what is in the air.” 

    McCann London and BreezoMeter will develop this project to make as many teddy bears as they can and put them in polluted countries. They hope Toxic Toby will become a global campaign in the future.