Flouted Delhi's odd-even scheme? Have a Snickers chocolate!

NEW DELHI: Delhiites who flouted chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s odd-even scheme to curb vehicular pollution in the capital on Friday had something to savour despite attracting heavy fines: a Snickers chocolate bar.

US chocolate maker Mars India has given away as many as 1,500 free Snickers to flouters on the last day of the odd even scheme. Reason: the company representatives says the idea ties in with Snickers' advertising that “when you're hungry, you behave out of character”.

“We want to convey the message that people are not their normal selves when they are hungry, resulting in oversights and to satisfy such hunger pangs a bar of Snickers is the best solution,” a Mars Chocolates India spokesperson said.

If the odd-even scheme is extended, the company plans to repeat the activity of handing out a Snickers bar to people driving an even number car on an odd day or vice versa.

The privately held $30-billion Mars, which also makes Twix and Bounty chocolate bars, is scaling up its India presence on distribution, marketing and manufacturing as it looks to compete with established rivals such as Mondelez, Nestle and Ferreo Rocher. Mars has been a relatively late entrant to India.

Niti Kumar, general manager at MediaCom, the agency which represented Mars for this activity, said: “Friday is a busy day, it’s the last day of the scheme in this round and it could have more flouters than usual.”

MediaCom is a joint venture between Sam Balsara and WPP’s GroupM.

Late last year, the world’s biggest chocolate maker announced its first manufacturing plant in the country on an investment of Rs 1,000 crore.