Dumb Ways to Die
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Dumb Ways To Die'' is an Australian public campaign made by
Metro Trains Metro Trains Melbourne, often known simply as Metro, is the franchise operator of the electrified suburban passenger service on the Melbourne rail network. Metro Trains Melbourne is a joint venture between Hong Kong-based MTR Corporation (6 ...
in
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
,
Victoria, Australia Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in Au ...
, to promote railway safety. On 1 October 2021, PlaySide Studios () acquired the Dumb Ways to Die franchise for A$2.25 million from Metro. Playside Studios also released an
NFT A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital identifier that cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided, that is recorded in a blockchain, and that is used to certify authenticity and ownership. The ownership of an NFT is recorded in the ...
called BEANS on 3 February 2022. The campaign video went viral on
social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
after it was released in November 2012. The campaign's animation was developed into an app available to iOS devices.


Campaign

The campaign was devised by advertising agency McCann Melbourne. It appeared in newspapers, local radio and outdoor advertising throughout the Metro Trains network and on
Tumblr Tumblr (stylized as tumblr; pronounced "tumbler") is an American microblogging and social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and currently owned by Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a sho ...
. John Mescall, executive creative director of McCann, said "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." McCann estimated that within two weeks, it had generated at least $50 million worth of global media value in addition to more than 700 media stories, for "a fraction of the cost of one TV ad". According to Metro Trains, the campaign contributed to a more than 30% reduction in "near-miss" accidents, from 13.29 near-misses per million kilometres in November 2011 – January 2012, to 9.17 near-misses per million kilometres in November 2012 – January 2013.


Animated video

The video was art directed by Patrick Baron, animated by Julian Frost and produced by Cinnamon Darvall. It was uploaded to
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
on 14 November 2012 and made public two days later. It featured characters with
pun A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...
ny names such as "Numpty," "Hapless," "Pillock" and "Dippy" (the first four beans in the song, listed in order of appearance) killing themselves with stupidity. The animated video has two versions, an English one and a Spanish one.


Song

The song "Dumb Ways to Die" from the video was written by John Mescall and co created with Patrick Baron, music by
Ollie McGill Ollie is a given name and a nickname, often as a shortened form of Oliver, Olive, Olympia, Olga or Olivia. Variants include Olie, Oli, Oly and Olly. People Given name * Ollie Marie Adams (1925–1998), American gospel and R&B singer * Ollie ...
from
The Cat Empire The Cat Empire are an Australian jazz/funk band, formed in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1999. For most of the band's duration, the core members were Felix Riebl (lead vocals, percussion), Harry James Angus (trumpet, vocals), Will Hull-Brown (drums), ...
, who also produced it. It was performed by Emily Lubitz, the lead vocalist of
Tinpan Orange Tinpan Orange are an Indie folk band from Melbourne, Australia. They formed in 2005 after they were discovered busking on the streets of Darwin, Australia. The band is a trio of musicians, made up of Emily Lubitz as the lead singer and guitar ...
, with McGill providing backing vocals. The band on the recording consists of Gavin Pearce on Bass, Danny Farrugia on drums and Brett Wood on guitar. It was released on
iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
, attributed to the artist "Tangerine Kitty" (a reference to Tinpan Orange and The Cat Empire). The song, with a
tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...
of 128 beats per minute, is written in
C major C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and ...
and a
time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...
of 4/4. ;Charts


Video game

On 6 May 2013, Metro released a "Dumb Ways to Die" game as an app for
iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...
devices. The game, developed by Julian Frost, Patrick Baron and Samuel Baird, invites players to avoid the dangerous activities engaged in by the various characters featured throughout the campaign. Within the app, players can also pledge to "not do dumb stuff around trains." The activities include things like getting toast out with a fork and poking a stick at a grizzly bear. An Android version was released in September 2013. The game is similar to games in the ''
WarioWare is a video game series, a Spin-off (media), spin-off of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise. It comprises various video games created by Nintendo, starring the character Wario. The series began with ''Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3'', th ...
'' series. The game presents minigames based on the animated music video in rapid succession and becomes faster and more difficult the longer the game is played. A sequel titled "Dumb Ways to Die 2: The Games" was released on 18 November 2014. In the sequel, there are a lot more varieties of challenges in each particular building, and each building has a particular theme. Before a train arrives at a building, the player plays a challenge to counter something related to trains. If successful, bonus points can be earned at the end of the game. There are 8 challenges each in every building. Like the original game, the game's characters do plenty of dangerous and unsafe activities. Lives can be lost by "dying" in one of the activities. The player has three chances to prevent the characters from dying. The game is recently also available as a web and mobile-web version by MarketJS, license holder of the HTML5 web IP. A second sequel titled "Dumb Ways to Die 3: World Tour" was released on 21 December 2017. Unlike the previous games which both involved the player playing minigames and trying to prevent the characters from dying, here the player collects coins from houses that are fixed up from being initially broken. The houses are fixed by the player playing a new minigame for each area containing those houses. A third sequel titled Dumb Ways to Die 4 is expected to release in 2023. A spinoff was also released, titled "Dumb Ways to Draw" on 5 May 2019. In the game, the player has to draw lines with in-game pens to guide the characters to their goals. But they also have to prevent the characters' deaths by dangers. It also had a colouring section to colour and share drawings as well as a "trace the picture" section, in which the player is required to hold the screen till a line of sufficient length is drawn to trace the given diagram. The sequel titled Dumb Ways to Draw 2 will be released in 2023. Another spinoff, titled "Dumb Ways to Dash" was released on 13 December 2019. The player has to guide their character in a 3D race against other characters to the finish line while avoiding the obstacles. A third spinoff, titled "Dumb Ways to Die: Superheroes" was released on 25 June 2020. It has similar gameplay to the previous spinoff.


YouTube channel

The Metro Trains has also published a number of other videos on its
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
channel, "Dumb Ways to Die", including the trailers of the second game, a video centered on the
MIFF MIFF may refer to: Film festivals * Listapad, aka Minsk International Film Festival, held each November in Minsk, Belarus *Maine International Film Festival, held in Waterville, Maine *Melbourne International Film Festival, held in Melbourne, Aus ...
, a series of
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
-themed short videos, Halloween-themed videos, and some other videos centered on Train Safety.


Reception

Susie O'Brien in the ''
Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The ''Herald S ...
'' in Melbourne criticised the ad for trivialising serious injuries and being about advertisers' ego rather than effective safety messages. Simon Crerar of the ''Herald Sun'' wrote that the song's "catchy chorus was the most arresting hook since
PSY Park Jae-sang (, ; born December 31, 1977), known professionally as Psy (stylized in all caps as PSY) (; ; ), is a South Korean singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Psy is known domestically for his humorous videos and stage per ...
's
Gangnam Style "Gangnam Style" ( ko, 강남스타일, ) is a K-pop song by South Korean rapper Psy, released on July 15, 2012, by YG Entertainment as the lead single of his sixth studio album, ''Psy 6 (Six Rules), Part 1'' (''Ssai Yukgap Part 1''). The term ...
." Alice Clarke writing in the ''Herald Sun'' described the video as "adorably morbid" and wrote that Victoria's public transport "broke its long running streak of terrible ads". Daisy Dumas of the ''
Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...
'' described it as "darkly cute — and irksomely catchy" and the chorus as "instant
earworm An earworm, sometimes referred to as a brainworm, sticky music, stuck song syndrome, or, most commonly after earworms, Involuntary Musical Imagery (INMI), is a catchy and/or memorable piece of music or saying that continuously occupies a person ...
material". Michelle Starr of
CNET ''CNET'' (short for "Computer Network") is an American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally. ''CNET'' originally produced content for radio and televi ...
described the campaign as the
Darwin Awards The Darwin Awards are a tongue-in-cheek honor that originated in Usenet newsgroup discussions around 1985. They recognize individuals who have supposedly contributed to human evolution by selecting themselves out of the gene pool by dying or b ...
meets ''
The Gashlycrumb Tinies ''The Gashlycrumb Tinies: or, After the Outing'' is an alphabet book written by Edward Gorey that was first published in 1963 as the first of a collection of short stories called '' The Vinegar Works'', the eleventh work by Gorey. The book tells t ...
'' and the song as "a cutesy indie-pop hit in the style of Feist". Logan Booker of
Gizmodo ''Gizmodo'' ( ) is a design, technology, science and science fiction website. It was originally launched as part of the Gawker Media network run by Nick Denton, and runs on the Kinja platform. ''Gizmodo'' also includes the subsite ''io9'', whic ...
described it as "taking a page out of the ''
Happy Tree Friends ''Happy Tree Friends'' is an American adult animated web series created by Aubrey Ankrum, Rhode Montijo, and Kenn Navarro, and developed by Montijo, Navarro, and Jeremy Viet Duong for Mondo Media. The show had achieved a cult following on Mo ...
'' book and mixing cute with horrifying". Karen Stocks of YouTube Australia said the video was unusual due to the high number of views from mobile devices. Stocks attributed the success to "A snappy headline. A catchy tune that gets stuck in your head. And a message that is easy to understand and perfectly targeted." The '' Sunshine Coast Daily'' described it as "the Gangnam Style of train safety campaigns". Arlene Paredes of the ''
International Business Times The ''International Business Times'' is an American online news publication that publishes five national editions in four languages. The publication, sometimes called ''IBTimes'' or ''IBT'', offers news, opinion and editorial commentary on busi ...
'' said the video was "brilliant in getting viewers' attention" and "arguably one of the cutest PSAs ever made."


Effectiveness and unwanted repercussions

The campaign received some criticism on the basis that suicide is one of the most influential causes of rail trauma, and the ad reinforces deadly trains as a possible suicide method. Writing in Mumbrella in February 2013, a former employee of Victoria's Department of Infrastructure advised critical thinking when evaluating claims made regarding improvements to safety. Reference was made specifically to the claimed 20 percent reduction in risky behavior as being "
social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
bullshit".


Censorship in Russia

In February 2013, Artemy Lebedev's
blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...
was censored by
Roskomnadzor The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, abbreviated as ''Roskomnadzor'' (RKN) (russian: Роскомнадзор КН, is the Russian federal executive agency responsible for monitoring, co ...
, the Russian government agency in charge of Internet censorship, for including the video. Later that day, the YouTube video was also censored, with the "This content is not available in your country due to a legal complaint from the government" message. The official takedown notice sent to Livejournal.com was quoted, in part, by Lebedev in his blog.
The song's lyrics contains a description of different ways of committing suicide, such as: using drugs beyond their expiration date, standing on an edge of a platform, running across the rails, eating superglue and other. The animated personages demonstrate dangerous ways of suicide in attractive for children and teenagers comic format. The lines such as "Use a clothes dryer as a hiding place” and “I wonder what’s this red button do?" contain an incitement to commit those acts.
Despite this, the video was still included into the
ABC Show ABC Show (Advertising Best Collection) is an advertising festival which demonstrates the collection of most awarded commercials and prints of the leading international advertising awards. Description ABC Show was established on 6 November 2002 by ...
and was shown in more than 50 cities across Russia.


Awards

The campaign won seven
Webby Award The Webby Awards are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over two thousand industry experts and technology innovators. Categories include ...
s in 2013 including the Best Animation Film & Video and Best Public Service & Activism (Social Content & Marketing). It won three Siren Awards, run by
Commercial Radio Australia Commercial Radio Australia (CRA) is the peak body for the commercial radio broadcasting industry in Australia. CRA was formed in 1930 as the Federation of Australian Radio Broadcasters. It provides representation and advocacy on common statuto ...
, including the Gold Siren for best advertisement of the year and Silver Sirens for the best song and best campaign. The public service announcement was awarded the Grand Trophy in the 2013 New York Festivals International Advertising Awards. In June 2013, the campaign clip won the Integrated Grand Prix at the
Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (formerly the International Advertising Festival) is a global event for those working in creative communications, advertising, and related fields. It is considered the largest gathering of the ...
, and overall, won five Grand Prix awards, 18 Gold Lions, three Silver Lions, and two Bronze Lions, which was the most for the campaign in the festival's history.


Legacy


Parodies

Within two weeks, the video had spawned over 85 parodies. Some renditions and parodies have been featured in national and international media: * "Cool Things to Find" - featuring the ''Curiosity'' Mars rover. Cinesaurus noted that it took them six days and 250 man hours to create. * "Dumb Movie Ways to Die" - from The Movie Maniacs parodies well known "dumb" movie deaths from famous films. * "Dumb Ways to Die (In Video Games) Parody" by YouTube channel MegaSteakMan. * "Dumb Ways to Die (Minecraft Edition)" * "Grand Theft Auto V: Dumb Ways to Die" *Dumb Ways to Die - Game of Thrones Edition * "Annoying Ways to Die" from ''
Annoying Orange ''Annoying Orange'' is an American live-action/animated comedy web series created by Dane Boedigheimer (known online as DaneBoe). The series follows an anthropomorphic orange who annoys fruits, vegetables, and various other objects by telling ...
'', as noted by Socialtimes * "The Walking Dead + Dumb Ways to Die Parody" - live-action parody of characters from '' The Walking Dead'' * "Smart Ways to Live" by
The Maccabeats The Maccabeats are an American Orthodox Jewish all-male a cappella group. Founded in 2007 at Yeshiva University, Manhattan, New York, the 14-member group specializes in covers and parodies of contemporary hits using Jewish-themed lyrics. Their b ...
- a cappella version as noted by Arutz Sheva. * "
Squid Game ''Squid Game'' () is a South Korean survival drama television series created by Hwang Dong-hyuk for Netflix. Its cast includes Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, Wi Ha-joon, HoYeon Jung, O Yeong-su, Heo Sung-tae, Anupam Tripathi, and Kim Joo-r ...
- A Dumb Ways to Die Parody" - by Ploy Boal won the Video of the Day Award on 19 April 2022 from Motion Design Awards


Life Insurance Partnership

Due to their success, the Dumb Ways to Die characters have been featured in a promotional campaign for Empire Life Insurance, with their key message being, "the dumbest way to die is without life insurance." However, the campaign was met with mixed reviews, with some advertising critics accusing Metro of "selling out" on a successful campaign.


Spin-offs

On 17 October 2014, the Dumb Ways to Die website was revamped to tease a new installment of the campaign. Slated for release in November 2014, the games take on a more sporting, athletic, and fitness theme, and is labelled "Dumb Ways to Die 2: The Games" and was released November 18. On December 21st, 2017, Dumb Ways to Die 3: World Tour was released. Other prominent spin-offs include Dumb Ways to Die: Wire Walk for Apple TV, Dumb Ways to Die JR, Dumb Ways To Draw, and Dumb Ways To Dash! In 2022, Dumb Ways To Die 4 was announced, but was delayed to 2023, which was announced in the 10 year anniversary video for the series. In that same announcement on December 13th, 2022, A new game called BEANLAND was announced, as well as a sequel to one of the other spin-offs, Dumb Ways To Draw.


Other

*Metro Trains was also supporting the Melbourne International Film Festival and decided to create a video to keep safe around that event. Retrieved on 22 December 2014.


References


External links

* {{authority control 2012 songs 2012 YouTube videos 2013 controversies 2013 video games Advertising and marketing controversies Android (operating system) games Australian advertising slogans Censorship in Russia Internet memes introduced in 2012 IOS games Mass media and entertainment controversies Public service announcements Public transport in Melbourne Puzzle video games Video games developed in Australia Viral videos Webby Award winners 2012 neologisms