However, few months later, the scheme began toterring for one simple reason. It had not yet effectively reached out to the public.

That's when the Ad Club decided to step in. ``It was a real shame,'' begins Ad Club President Ramesh Narayan. ``Here was a scheme which could instil confidence in the public and probably even deter crime, but these objectives could be achieved only if it was properly communicated.'' So that's what the Ad Club decided to do, use its members, amongst the best creative talent in the country, to draft an ad campaign in four languages.

After two meetings with the police commissioner in October last, they floated the idea to have an open competition to shortlist advertisements to publicize the Alert Citizen. They first sent outmissives to various ad agencies. There were no fancy prizes associated with such high-profile contests. The Ad Club instead appealed to the hearts of their members. The ad spiel was `if you stay in Mumbai here's your chance to be able to do something for it.'

The response from the agencies was heartening. Overwhelming in these days of the slowdown in the advertising industry, as Narayan says. Over 350 pieces of work from some of the country's leading ad agencies and even a college piled up at the Ad Club in December last.