Some claimed it took tragedy too lightly. Some said the cute packaging wasn’t enough to disguise the gory undertones of the campaign. The runaway success wasn’t without its detractors, of course. And they made sure the campaign’s message was getting through with themed materials teachers could use in public schools. Six months later, they gave the campaign another boost with the first Dumb Ways to Die game for iOS devices, followed by a sequel in 2014. They released a single of the song onto iTunes, followed by a karaoke version for sing-alongs. Fortunately, they were quick to react and help the campaign continue to spread. Metro Trains and McCann had captured lightning in a bottle. In the first two weeks, it racked up 30 million. Just 72 hours after the initial upload, the video had nearly 5 million views. The combination of cute cartoons, catchy music, and gruesome subject matter was an instant smash hit. To further raise the cute factor, they enlisted two local indie musicians to play the twinkly, twee tune that accompanies the ad. Even with the gory subject matter, it looks more like a children’s book than a horror movie. The agency sweetened their gruesome premise with a simplistic, cute animation style. So why not start with some exaggeratedly unrealistic other dumb ways to die? Why not suggest that death by train is comparable to, say, donating both of your kidneys to strangers on the Internet? Getting hit by one is a (say it with me) dumb way to die. They quickly hit on a central idea: Trains are massive, make a lot of noise, and travel predictable routes in a straight line. Their concept came from interviews with platform staff and drivers, who saw firsthand people taking foolish risks around trains. ![]() Metro Trains Melbourne turned to agency McCann Melbourne to create the ad. So they knew the campaign needed to be memorable and irresistible to create the viral boost they needed. The company had a limited budget for their creation, far less than the cost of one TV ad. In other words, a Trojan horse that could sneak in their serious message to far more people than a blunt approach would reach. Instead of starting with the message and crafting dire visuals around it, they wanted to create something people would enjoy watching, something that would compel them to like and share it. The kind of message that made you change the channel, or hide your eyes when the teacher played it on 8mm film at school.įor their new train safety campaign, Metro Trains Melbourne decided to do something different. They were live-action, dead serious morality plays with much implied gore. In the past, PSAs about train safety could be downright grisly affairs. Metro Trains Melbourne had an important message to get across: Be safe around trains, whether you’re driving near tracks or waiting on a platform. The Message People Need (But Don’t Want) to Hear So how did a public safety announcement become such a smashing success? Read on. Two spinoff games racked up millions of downloads. ![]() The soundtrack tune cracked the Top 100 in the Netherlands and hit #38 on the UK Indie charts. The video currently sits at over 100 million views on YouTube. Those adorable, disaster-prone animated beans became a runaway viral hit in 2012. Unless, that is, you want to create a worldwide multimedia phenomenon, like Australia’s Metro Trains Melbourne did with their video Dumb Ways to Die: You should absolutely avoid humor and personality in this context. Now imagine you’re in that industry and need to get across a serious, life-or-death public safety message. For example, say you work for a staid, buttoned-down industry like public transportation. Surely, though, there are times when humor is strictly inappropriate. There’s no substitute for human emotion when you’re trying to make a connection with your audience. There’s a movement underway to add humor and personality to marketing. This time, we look at how a public safety campaign in Australia became a worldwide phenomenon. Last time, we learned how Volvo made high art with two big rigs and an aging action movie star. Editor’s Note: In the Astonishing Tales of Content Marketing series, we reflect on the visionaries past and present who excel at content marketing.
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