Dumb Way(s) a PSA Became a Global Brand: An Analysis of a Viral Campaign’s Success
How do you promote safety around trains? By creating a cartoon video with genderless beans of course, well, that seems to be Metro Trains Australia’s thinking. Dumb Ways to Die is a captivating public service announcement which features adorable little blobs, and a frustratingly catchy tune. For those unfamiliar with the video, it’s a 3-minute-long cartoon showcasing the various stupid ways one can meet their demise. Some of the accidents include: selling both your kidneys on the internet, eating a tube of super glue, teaching yourself how to fly, and of course, standing on the edge of a train station platform.
The Public Service Announcement was commissioned by Metro Trains Melbourne, McCann World Group Australia crafted the video with the intention of promoting safety around trains. Production of the cartoon required a team and an extensive advertising operation. McCann Executive director, John Mescall, penned the lyrics, recruiting Australian musicians Ollie McGill for the music’s composition, and Emily Lubitz for vocals. Dumb Ways to Die advertised in newspapers, the Metro Train Station, and the internet on websites like Tumblr and Reddit. People quickly became enamoured with the campaign, the video was released November 14, 2012, in just two weeks the short received over 30 million hits.[1] It’s easy to see the appeal, Lubitz’s soft and raspy voice narrate the entertaining mishaps of the formless circles with rhyming lyrics and a breezy tune. At the time of writing, the PSA has garnered around 171 million views on YouTube.[2]
Thanks to capitalism, the Dumb Ways to Die Campaign amassed an empire which includes: a karaoke edition, several additional videos, toys, apparel, and multiple smartphone games. Audiences ate up the witty song which has at least 85 parodies and 60 covers. There’s no question that there was an enormous and zealous response to the video, but it appeared audiences failed to respond in accordance with the original intention. The Dumb Ways to Die website, Metro Trains, and the McCann World Group, are quick to point out all the video’s successes and their disturbingly large revenue.[3] There is an apparent absence of comment on the genuine purpose of the cartoon: train safety. Leah Waymark, a representative for Metro Trains, states that there has been a decline in “dumb behaviour” as well as a 20% drop in close-calls and other injuries. Waymark goes on to say that one can’t attribute the improvement to just the video, as there has been an increase in safety hotlines, and an implementation of incentives to report possible danger.[4] It’s important to note that it is difficult to measure near misses and security in general, and even more challenging to measure in accordance with the short. However, Waymark presented a 20% decrease in possible injuries, which is great, but given the popularity of the video, a 20% decrease isn’t that large of a number (especially with the other factors at play). This abstract reduction seems to be the only result anyone at Metro or McCann can come up with. Surely given the videos popularity there would be a bit more to show? None of these books, games, and clothing have a strong emphasis, if any, on train safety.
The popularity received is partly due to the rebellious take on the Public Service Announcement. PSA’s are usually associated with a grey melancholy tone while someone tells the viewer, directly or indirectly, not to do something. Dumb Ways to Die purposely integrated a new strategy to engage the public, by abandoning the common saddening discussion about the consequences of one’s actions; instead, employing a bright and cheerful cartoon. There is an interesting connection between the campaign’s approach, and the methodology of culture jammers. Culture Jammers work against the dominant culture through methods of turning it against itself, through the repurposing of popularized techniques. This inversion of the popular can be an effective way to mobilize, promote action, and critique mass media.[5] Unfortunately, this transposal of culture has become utilized by corporations. Mescall intentionally used a joyful technique to deliver sombre material, seeing it as an attempt to sneak up on people with a safety campaign.[6] The short turns the traditional PSA upside down, which activated an immense following, nonetheless, ultimately caused the video to lose its message. While the video isn’t necessarily an act against the common media, it attempted to disrupt the common nature of PSA’s to better promote train safety; however, so much focus has been placed on the subversive aesthetic that it’s distracted itself. Culture Jammers posit the notion that the dominant public role has shifted from citizen to consumer,[7] and Dumb Ways to Die is an excellent example of this terrifying truth. The cartoon began as a PSA for safe behaviour in Metro Stations. But, now, because of the public’s insatiable appetite for consumption, the video has turned into an establishment of its own.
This isn’t intended to be a harsh criticism of the campaign, but an attempt to examine how a PSA has become a brand. Dumb Ways to Die continues to state that their message is promoting safety on trains and in all areas. Their website and other forms of media try to include train safety into their assortment of materials, they don’t seem to be trying that hard, but they are still trying. Dumb Ways to Die has now begun to focus on tackling greater topics, mostly through the popularity of their smartphone application. Currently, the company has a new game titled Dumb Ways to Kill Oceans, which attempts to educate young people on the various ways oceans can be destroyed. The application collected over 178,000 pledges for environmental safety.[8] It is certainly great to raise awareness about plastic pollution and coral reef degradation, but it’s unclear how much these pledges do. The website has no mention of whether any of the revenue is donated towards actual environmental relief organisations. The bottom of the Dumb Ways to Kill Oceans page contains a poll asking which issue they should cover next.[9] Admittedly, a game that is able to entertain children while also providing education is respectable and insightful. Yet, it feels like this brand generates merchandise ideas by pretending to care about issues. No one can blame Dumb Ways to Die for taking advantage of their opportunities, but they can be blamed for the fact that they seem to have lost their initial purpose and continue to capitalize under a guise of raising awareness.
References
- Metrotrains.Com.Au. Accessed October 18. http://www.metrotrains.com.au/.
- Dumb Ways To Die. http://www.dumbwaystodie.com/.
“Culture Jamming”. 2011. Depts.Washington.Edu. http://depts.washington.edu/ccce/polcommcampaigns/CultureJamming.htm.
“Dumb Ways To Die”. 2012. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJNR2EpS0jw [Accessed 17 Oct. 2018].
“Dumb Ways To Die”. 2018. App Store. Accessed October 18. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dumb-ways-to-die/id639930688.
“Dumb Ways To Kill Oceans”. 2018. Gamingfortheoceans.Org. https://gamingfortheoceans.org/.
“Dumbways2die”. 2012. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/user/DumbWays2Die.
Idiots Lantern. 2012. “Dumb Ways To Die (Cover)”. Youtube.Com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0N-yM3AvuE.
“Mccann Worldgroup | Global Network Of Advertising Agencies”. 2018. Mccannworldgroup.Com. Accessed October 18. https://www.mccannworldgroup.com/.
Moses, Asher. 2012. “Aussie Viral Video, ‘Dumb Ways To Die’, Lives On”. The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/technology/aussie-viral-video-dumb-ways-to-die-lives-on-20121129-2ahm0.html.
“MTA”. 2018. Metrotrainsau.Com. Accessed October 18. http://metrotrainsau.com/.
“Shop – Dumb Ways To Die”. 2018. Accessed October 18. https://shop.dumbwaystodie.com/.
“Shop – Dumb Ways To Die”. 2018. Shop – Dumb Ways To Die. Accessed October 18. https://shop.dumbwaystodie.com/.
The Movie Maniacs. 2013. “Dumb Movie Ways To Die – Dumb Ways To Die Parody”. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vqAa95EplE.
Ward, Miranda. 2015. “Has Dumb Ways To Die Been Effective? – Mumbrella”. Mumbrella. https://mumbrella.com.au/dumb-ways-die-stopped-dumb-behaviour-around-trains-270751.
[1] (Moses 2012)
[2] (“Dumb Ways To Die” 2012)
[3] (Moses 2012)
[4] (Ward 2015)
[5] (“Culture Jamming” 2011)
[6] (Moses 2012)
[7] (“Culture Jamming” 2011)
[8] (“Dumb Ways To Kill Oceans” 2018)
[9] Ibid.