Dumb Ways to Die Campaign
Last week I took the bus into Denver. Walking through Union Station I quickly noticed all the funny characters that make up the Dumb Ways to Die campaign posted on the walls. I couldn’t help take pictures and read the stories. When I got home later that evening I decided to look up the campaign online.
I first watched the original video (below), and then came across the multitude of other videos on YouTube. The original video includes a variety of characters demonstrating ‘Dumb Ways to Die’ like: poking a stick at a grizzly bear, eating two week old unrefrigerated pie, and selling both of your kidneys on the internet. After watching a few more videos I was increasingly interested in the origins of the cleaver campaign and decided to do some research…
In 2012, Metro Trains Melbourne launched the Dumb Ways to Die campaign to promote rail safety. Metro wanted to release a campaign to promote safety after witnessing young Australians display thoughtless behavior around trains. They approached local creative and production agencies, McCann Melbourne and Millipede, to create the campaign.
Their approach was to create something that was fun, meaningful, and that would retain consistent followers. They focused on generating a large audience by tailoring the content to other, larger English speaking countries. They carefully chose the tone of voice in the original video, as well as the North American animals; both of which would be more widely accepted outside of Australia.
They first released the song, then a karaoke version, then more content including gifs and a downloadable song. Next was the free smart phone game, a children’s book, and a website inviting people to take a pledge not to do dumb things around trains. Today they have an assortment of videos, some even promoting safety during the holidays.
Not all of their content is digital. They also have stuffed animal versions of each character like Mishap, Loopy, and Bonehead. John Mescall, Executive Creative Director at McCann Melborne, says, “We look at it as an Angry birds franchise: we have a brand property that lives in entertainment and continues to evolve across different platforms.”
It is hard to deny the campaign’s international success, but did it accomplish its original goal to promote safety? After it’s release, railway accidents were reduced by 21 percent (Case Study, The Best of Digital Marketing); although it is hard to prove if the reduction was a straight correlation to the campaign or just a coincidence. Either way, it is a fun and inspiring campaign. They continue to update their apps, make new games, and create new videos. I encourage you to check them out, and maybe even download one of the apps!
“Case Study: Metro Trains’ Dumb Ways to Die.” The Best of Global Digital Marketing, http://www.best-marketing.eu/case-study-metro-trains-dumb-ways-to-die/. Accessed 25, September 2016.
