Kolkata police have been getting applause after they used a meme featuring Argentine legend Lionel Messi’s missed penalty against Iceland to promote government’s ‘Safe Drive Save Life’ campaign in the state.
The meme captures Messi’s moment of despair against newbie Iceland when he failed to convert a penalty into a goal during Group D game on June 16. The meme also has an image of a traffic policeman issuing a fine to penalise a helmet-less biker, with an English caption “You’ll never miss a penalty. We won’t let you!” The Bengali version is captioned “sob penalty miss hoi na!” (All penalties are not missed!)
Kolkata police’s Facebook post instantly went viral as it got over 2,500 shares since it was uploaded on Friday evening.
While most of the social media users were impressed by the ad and termed it as one of Kolkata Police’s best campaigns ever, Argentina and Messi fans, dubbed it ‘shameful’ and accused the police of trolling one of the best players in the world of football, others.
Here are some of the reactions:
Excellent….. Very Useful Posting Sir…….___
— koushikmukherjee130@gmail.com (@koushikspeaknow) June 22, 2018
But a few criticised Kolkata police for making fun of Messi:
This is your road saftey.I respect #SafeDriveSaveLife but first teach your staff then teach us, we give money if we are not in helmet, can they give fine,If you really think our safety, then make road time 2 time,I think police are also under #safelifesavedrive ____ pic.twitter.com/3tHbBW9Qja
— Rohan Sinha (@Rohan_team) June 22, 2018
Shame on you kolkata police for this kind of post. Afterall u r not a meme page. #Shame _ _
— Samiran Barui (@SamiranBarui) June 23, 2018
Meanwhile, Lionel Messi’s Argentina will be playing their do-or-die game in the ongoing FIFA World Cup against Nigeria in a Group D encounter at St Petersburg on June 26. The pair have previously met five times in six World Cups.
A win against Argentina will guarantee Nigeria a place in the knockout rounds.
For Argentina, they must beat Nigeria and also hope Iceland do not win against Croatia, as that could send them home, depending on the goal difference.
