nudge-ing people into politeness

I saw a pregnant woman wearing a London tube branded “Baby on Board” badge when I was on the District Line yesterday. Apparently they’ve been around for ages, but I’ve never seen one before.

Apparently a lot of women don’t like them, or at least that’s what my colleagues tell me. Perhaps they’re not even available any more.

But I think they’re brilliant. To be fair, in the later stages pregnancy does its own advertising pretty well. Yet nevertheless, the general public often needs a bit of gentle encouragement (or sometimes not so gentle) to give up their seat for someone who’s clearly in need.

But the middle stages of pregnancy can sometimes be difficult to identify. Fear of offending what is simply a larger lady often prevents that act of consideration. For these cases and in the earliest stages of pregnancy when there’s nothing visible, but the sheer fatigue can be a killer, the “Baby on Board” badge must surely be a godsend. This has to be ‘Nudge‘ marketing in action.