This story is from June 24, 2018

Messi meme breaks city cops’ social media record

Messi meme breaks city cops’ social media record
Picture for representational purpose only.
KOLKATA: ‘You’ll never miss a penalty. We won’t let you!’ — the latest meme by Kolkata Police, which has Lionel Messi’s penalty miss on one side and a sergeant issuing a challan on the other, has created a storm on social media. Netizens’ opinions, however, are divided. While a large section (mostly Brazil and Germany supporters) have called it the “most innovative campaign ever”, Argentina fans are not amused that their superstar is being trolled by a government body.
Many decided to “troll” back, saying that cops do not miss their penalties since they do it for their own pockets.
All the intense social media action, though, has put a smile on the cops’ faces. A day after it was first posted on Kolkata Police’s official Twitter and Facebook pages, it has been shared 2,368 times and has been liked by 5,300 people, easily shattering all previous Kolkata Police meme records.
And there has been no end to the comments. As one Facebook user Tanmoy Chakraborty cheekily put it: “If not for Kolkata Police, anyone else daring to put up this meme would have been bombarded with obscenities by men wearing blue and white T-shirts.”
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“Forget 2018, we will reply to this meme in 2022,” wrote Debiprasad Chakraborty, an Argentina fan. Sagnik Jha, another Argentina fan, wondered when cops will come up with a Neymar meme — “the man who dives and acts to earn penalties”. Yet another user put up a whole video showing Portugese star Ronaldo missing a penalty stating penalties, after all, can be missed.
A senior Kolkata Police official involved with the social media cell explained that the whole idea was to ensure maximum publicity. “As long as the message goes through, we have achieved our objective,” he said. He had a message for Messi fans, too. “Every meme will not be about Messi,” he said.

It has been a month that Kolkata Police has taken to memes to send across their message on the Safe Drive Save life Campaign. The memes have been planned and designed by a social media team.
“Social media has been very effective in creating awareness for us. And more than the signs put up on roads, these creative memes reach the people faster,” said the officer.
Notably, the Mumbai Police recently released a series of memes on traffic rules, which was also a huge hit with citizens.
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