Mumbai Police joins in Barbie, Oppenheimer meme-fest; raises awareness on public safety

Several times in the past, Mumbai Police has come up with witty tweets and messages to inform, educate and raise awareness among Mumbaikars. Using the same technique, the police recently utilised the hype generated around the two much-talked-about upcoming Hollywood movies, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. The movies are set to release in theatres on 21 July. Since this has left internet users engaging in a meme-fest, Mumbai Police has joined the course to educate people about public safety.

As the two movies face tough box office competition, audiences are left guessing which one will win. While Gerwig’s Barbie is centered around the iconic pink doll, Nolan’s Oppenheimer is a feature documentary based on Julius Robert Oppenheimer, an American theoretical physicist. Mumbai Police used the movies’ storylines to highlight a warning against drug use, riding without helmets, consequences of OTP revelation to strangers and drunk-driving.

The police posted pictures on their Instagram account. They captioned the post: “With such ‘barbie’ actions, you’re signing up for Oppenheimer consequences.”

Check out the meme-fest by Mumbai Police with reference to the movies:

The post was uploaded two days ago. It has over 19,000 likes.

Check out some of the comments on the post:

One user asked, “How do Mumbai Police know weed gives you a Barbie start?”

“Looks like this is also inspired by true events!” wrote another, referring to Oppenheimer.

A third user wrote: “Dope post.”

A fourth added: “Mumbai Police be like: jeena hai izzat se jiye (If you want to live, do that with pride.)

“Mumbai Police rocks,” stated another.

However, this isn’t the first time Mumbai Police has used references from movies to instigate a sense of public safety. In the past, the law enforcement agency used a clip from the movie, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse to raise awareness about risks associated with many people travelling and adjusting on a ‘two-wheeler.’

The clip showed Spot, a Marvel Comics villain, talking to a family of four riding on one bike. Spot addressed commuters and said, “That’s very dangerous.” The post came in line with the fact that Indians are known to accommodate three or four people to a vehicle made for two.