Every year monoxide poisoning kills almost 100 people in Poland, and further 2,000 are hospitalized. This silent killer doesn’t look at people’s religion or social status, so the Grey Group Poland designed a campaign to tackle this issue in collaboration with the chimney sweeps association Krajowa Izba Kominiarzy.
The campaign, “A sign from Saint Florian”, is in its essence a story in which different religions joined their forces in order to save people’s lives.
In Poland The Polish National Chamber of Chimney Sweeps and representatives of three religions – Orthodox, Catholic and Muslim, took part in a campaign teaching people how to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning. The instruction represented part of a picture of Saint Florian and was distributed during pastoral visits in Polish homes.
One of the main reasons why so many people die from monoxide poisoning is insufficient air circulation in homes. This is particularly critical during the heating period, when inefficient ventilation prevents replenishment of fresh air, and pollutants can lead to tragedies.
Poland is a religious country with a strong tradition of pastoral visits. During pastoral visit priests give away pictures of saints to guard their households from evil and threats, e.g. St Nicolas would keep you safe from robbers, St Christopher from car accidents.
This year priests of different religions joined the tradition, handing out pictures of Saint Florian, the patron of firefighters and chimney-sweeps, which carried the instruction of how people can check ventilation system in their homes in a very simple and reliable way. In a campaign lasting over 14 months the agency distributed almost 30 million instructions.
Agency conducted a similar campaign with the leaflets for a number of retail chains in Poland last year.
