Yes, in Amsterdam bikes do get stolen. In a way, it's part of the daily life, Amsterdammers are used to it usually don't care reporting to the police their bike has disappeared. So the police this spring started an integrated campaign to fight the problem. Here you find three posters which really give you an idea of how the issue is relevant around here. Too bad I don't know the agency who did this. Anyone can help?

I'd be interested in getting the translation of the tagline on those posters. Anyone here speaking the language of the country of bicycles, tulips and depenalized marijuana?

Posted by: Cedric at September 24, 2005 01:34 PM

It means "give bike thieves no chance"

Posted by: Martina at September 24, 2005 06:08 PM

ok. so, what solution do they offer?

Posted by: ivan at September 26, 2005 09:49 AM

The Amsterdam Police periodically do a tour of popular bike parks, like the one outside Centraal Station, and put a little tag on your bike indicating how securely locked it is on a scale of 1-4. The best is that you have a back wheel lock plus a decent chain securing your front wheel and frame to a fixed object. The worst is nowt. They also do the occasional frame number registration thing at the side of the road. This when they're not too busy nicking you for riding in the dark without lights, or jumping reds.

Posted by: Ben at September 27, 2005 12:13 PM

FYI: The agency responsible for this campaign is Kesselskramer. Cedric: the tagline translates roughly to "Don't give bicycle thieves a chance!" and Ivan, I'm not quite sure what the solution they offer - these ads ran quite a while back and i have a long-term memory problem ;-)

Posted by: Joris at October 3, 2005 02:11 PM