Tyler MacAuley

Writing 121

Professor Cook

19 November 2013

That Was Dumb

Some advertisements try to be serious, and tug at the heartstrings of the viewer with dreary and downcast imagery, music in a flat and minor key with lyrics so depressing it would make Sarah McLaughlin admonish them for being too heavy-handed, and a narrator that sounds like someone just shot his dog. Others try to go for testosterone and manliness. “Dumb Ways to Die”, an Australian public service announcement done by Metro trains, is neither one of these, and while some people may be skeptical of whether or not a public service announcement counts as an advertisement for the purposes of this exercise, the video does do a good job of catching attention and advertising a product, that product being your continued streak of not being hit by a train.

First, the video itself. It starts off with a nice little guitar riff and some flash animation of a dandelion...quickly followed by a breathy Australian woman singing over little creatures that I have dubbed Happy Death Blobs dying in extremely stupid ways. For instance: “set fire to your hair, poke a stick at a grizzly bear, eat medicine that's out of date, use your private parts as piranha bait”. Catchy lyrics? Check. Cutesy animation? Check. Copious amounts of black humor with some very unfortunate implications about suicide? Check, check, a thousand times check. The video is about three minutes long, and the aforementioned Australian woman continues to narrate as the Blobs die in increasingly hilarious ways; not until the last approximately thirty seconds does the video mention trains at all, and it is honestly rather abrupt. She mentions three ways to die around trains, then all of the suicidal little blob things come out like a casting call singing that these are the dumbest ways to die, and then the video ends with the woman saying “be safe around trains, a message from Metro.”

So why does this video work? First, the good parts, and there are quite a few ways that this video is genius. To start with, the upbeat lyrics are extremely catchy and actually pretty funny, meaning that this video will not leave your head any time soon and that the message will thus stick with you like a ketchup stain on a wedding dress. The black comedy and gory imagery are very effective, and the art style keeps it from being overwhelmingly violent.

A few parts of the video have garnered some criticism, both from myself and other people. The fact that the ad doesn't mention trains at all until the very end can leave some people confused, although that may be purposeful on the creator's part to create a bit of comedy and keep the audience entertained without being too heavy-handed. Secondly, the aforementioned suicidal undertones can cross the line for some people, but this has been speculated to be a deliberate choice on the part of the creator; Roughly seventy-five percent of all railway related deaths in Victoria are suicides, so the ad was meant to address this issue (Monash University, Routley et al). One last criticism that I have, based on this, is that some people may see it as glorifying suicide what with the humor and upbeat music, and also for giving people ideas on creative ways to kill yourself. I honestly had never even considered using my private parts as piranha bait; I don't plan on doing it, but it's a  unique thought at least.

So what are some of the real-life results of this ad? Well first-off, it is officially the most successful viral video coming from Australia, for what that's worth, and won 32 Lion awards at the Cannes advertising festival (Rail Express). I suppose that means good things, because I have never heard of either one of these. Also, Metro Train Station has noticed a twenty one percent reduction in railway accidents as of July of this year, and over 14 million people, including myself, have pledged to be safer around trains. Also, as mentioned before, this song is absolutely ridiculously catchy. There is a very very good reason that Simon Crerar of the Herald Sun compared it to Psy's “Gangnam Style” (Simon Crerar, November 19 2012). So all in all, this ad was quite successful and continues to get people's attention. As of the time of this writing, “Dumb Ways to Die” has almost sixty five million views, and people are continuing to watch the blob things kill themselves in humorous ways and learning about safety along with being entertained.

In conclusion, “Dumb Ways to Die” has taught me that viral advertising just plain works and that people absolutely love a bit of black comedy every now and then. Even though it is a bit disturbing in its blatant depiction of suicide, I know that the creators' hearts are definitely in the right place.  “Dumb Ways to Die” is a fun little public service announcement, and I highly recommend that you check it out. Just remember: be safe around trains!