Noticing xciii - The Fun Theory

I am reading a book about habits—not so much how to make (or break) one, though that's covered implicitly; but about the behaviors, and the brain science, behind habit formation. I am in a chapter titled "Rewards" (the other two components of successful habit creation being context/proximity and repetition), and in it the author mentions Volkswagen's "Fun Theory" of 2009, sponsored/created by the ad agency DDB Stockholm. It was a contest, with a prize of €2,500.

I had actually seen one of the videos that illustrates this concept: a stairway in a Stockholm subway—

—but I didn't realize it was part of a whole program to incentivize more healthful or caring (or simply fun!) behavior. In this case, the point was to use the stairs rather than the escalator—better for you, for sure.

The second one encouraged people to throw their trash in a receptacle rather than on the ground. The bin says it's "the world's deepest trash can," as verified by the sound effects.

Next came encouraging people to recycle their bottles—by making the activity into a lottery. And what about skateboarding around the supermarket? (Well, okay, that's just fun.)

Here's another "fast lane" option, at another subway station.

And the contest winner? An American, Kevin Richardson, for the Speed Camera Lottery. (Though if my neighborhood is anything to judge by, the idea of rewards for obeying the speed limit still needs to be implemented . . .)