There is an idea that’s simple yet powerful. It’s called The Fun Theory, and it states that things are better if they are more fun. Why? Because people are more willing to do the right thing if they can get some fun out of it.

       Volkswagen announced The Fun Theory in 2009 and since then has organized contests for inventions that can prove The Fun Theory. One winner was the Speed Camera Lottery, designed to get people to obey the speed limit. It involves a camera that not only issues speeding tickets to cars that drive too fast, but also notices cars that come through at or under the speed limit. It then automatically issues a lottery ticket to those who obeyed the speed limit, giving them a chance to win some money. Best of all, the lottery is funded by money collected from speeding fines.

      Another winner of The Fun Theory contest is The World’s Deepest Trash Bin. It’s a trash bin with a sound effect---when someone throws trash in, the bin makes the sound of a heavy object falling through the air and crashing to the ground.

       The results of these inventions prove that The Fun Theory can indeed be used to change people’s behavior. The Speed Camera Lottery led to a 22% decrease in people’s average driving speed, and the World’s Deepest Trash Bin collected more than seventy kilograms of garbage in one day. As The Fun Theory shows, things are better when they’re more fun.