In this awareness campaign, the City of Amsterdam wanted to make it clear to all of its residents that feeding birds or ducks attract rats. Amsterdam has a large cross-cultural community and in discussions with its residents, we have had some interesting feedback. In the Muslim religion, for instance, it’s not allowed to waste food. In general, most cross-culturals and also the native Dutch are careful not to throw away food.
Of course, an unhygienic association with rats is bad for a neighbourhood’s image. That is why we have chosen to highlight the problem in a positive light. The use of the term ‘hospitality’ is something that cross-culturals are proud of. They always cook a little bit of extra food for unexpected guests. This tongue-in-cheek attitude shows the undesirable and unexpected results that this can cause.
We advised on how social relationships can be used to draw attention to this topic. How to change the social norm. How you can stimulate the conversation about this topic and how to use interpersonal communication to promote this.
