With the Sochi Winter Olympics coming up in Russia soon, Moscow has found a clever way of promoting the event at train stations.
Moscow has added new machines that allow passengers to do 30 squats as an alternative to payment for a train ticket.
Apparently the machines can also tell if you’re cheating, so unlike Wii technology, you can’t just casually flail or move ever so slightly in an attempt to fool the console.
This is a great idea to get people in the mood for the Winter Olympics, but I’m afraid that a few squats in front of a ticket machine doesn’t pull the attention away from the current issues in Russia that are casting a shadow over the Olympics, from the bad treatment of the Pussy Riot members in prison to the ‘gay propaganda’ law in the country.
So for Moscow residents on their morning commute: do some squats, get a free train ticket, then sign a petition to make everything fair and even. Because sometimes even the coolest gadget can’t distract us from the real issues.
