Dumb Ways to Die

Melbourne’s Metro Trains has launched a viral advertising campaign aimed at reducing the number of train related deaths in the state of Victoria. Rather than the regular, scary, stay-off-the-tracks-it’s-dangerous type approach, they’ve commissioned a catchy little video that is sure to be watched around the world hundreds of thousands of times. (Watch the video below.)

A three-minute animated music video, written by McCann ECD John Mescall, is the centre piece of the campaign. The video highlights the many dumb ways there are to die, with being hit by a train – a very preventable death – among them.

Mescall said: “We’ve got people eating superglue, sticking forks in toasters and selling both their kidneys. But truth is indeed stranger than fiction, and we still couldn’t come up with dumber ways to die than driving around boomgates and all the other things people do to put themselves in harm’s way around trains. The aim of this campaign is to engage an audience that really doesn’t want to hear any kind of safety message – and we think dumb ways to die will.” – Mumbrella

What do you think? Brilliant? Tacky? Insensitive? Funny?

Do you think it’ll actually work to reduce deaths?



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About the author

Rodney Olsen

Rodney is a husband, father, cyclist, blogger and podcaster from Perth Western Australia.

He previously worked in radio for about 25 years but these days he spends his time at Compassion Australia, working towards releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name.

The views he expresses here are his own.

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1 Comment

  • Since I have been accused of having a warped sense of humor (by those less educated in the finer points of humor) I liked it. It may be a tad bit too long for the average person sitting through a commercial. I also wonder if the length will detract from the final message.

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