We were looking at viral advertising in class--everyone had so many fantastic, funny, "I don't believe it" examples. We wondered what the top viral ads of last year (2012) were. So we googled it of course.
The website Mashable had a list of their Top Ten.
My favourite was "Dumb ways to Die", an ad for the Melbourne Metro Trains. It was made by the McCann ad agency. I love the simple animation accompanied by the sweet female voice singing absurd lyrics in a catchy tune. How twisted! Almost immediately I began to sing along to the chorus "Dumb ways to die". The dumb ways to die, represented by the cutely morbid animated creatures, gain critical mass until they are joined with the dumbest ways to die. These are transit related deaths. It is only after the last chorus when all the dumb, dead creatures are finished singing and dancing, that a female voice accompanied by the Metro logo says: "Be safe around trains, a message from Metro."
Dumb ways to Die is not a hard sell for a harsh subject, but a gentle, motherly reminder--it makes you think of innocence and children with the animation and song. "Be safe around trains" is a "mother message"; children need to be reminded, adults are 'dumb' and childish if they don't act safely around trains.
Dumb Ways to Die
The website Mashable had a list of their Top Ten.
My favourite was "Dumb ways to Die", an ad for the Melbourne Metro Trains. It was made by the McCann ad agency. I love the simple animation accompanied by the sweet female voice singing absurd lyrics in a catchy tune. How twisted! Almost immediately I began to sing along to the chorus "Dumb ways to die". The dumb ways to die, represented by the cutely morbid animated creatures, gain critical mass until they are joined with the dumbest ways to die. These are transit related deaths. It is only after the last chorus when all the dumb, dead creatures are finished singing and dancing, that a female voice accompanied by the Metro logo says: "Be safe around trains, a message from Metro."
Dumb ways to Die is not a hard sell for a harsh subject, but a gentle, motherly reminder--it makes you think of innocence and children with the animation and song. "Be safe around trains" is a "mother message"; children need to be reminded, adults are 'dumb' and childish if they don't act safely around trains.
Dumb Ways to Die
