Dumb Ways to Die spawns karaoke spin off
A karaoke version of Metro Trains Melbourne viral video, Dumb Ways to Die, has been released.
The announcement:
27 November 2012: The fastest spreading Australian viral video of all time now boasts an official karaoke version, as McCann and Metro Trains Melbourne continue to roll out elements of the popular “Dumb Ways to Die” safety campaign.
The original three-minute music video, which depicts gruesome ways to die, including setting fire to your hair and standing on the edge of a train platform, has gained more than 30 million views and re-posts since launching 12 days ago and spawned a wide variety of covers and interpretations from fans across the globe.
“The latest addition to the campaign, The Official Karaoke Version, has been created to foster deeper engagement with our target audiences. We’re now allowing users to create their own renditions of the song, and thereby their own social currency, while further pushing Metro’s rail safety message virally,” said Adrian Mills, McCann Group
Account Director responsible for the Metro campaign. “It demonstrates McCann’s deep understanding of what the online community is actually after.”
Watch the official karaoke version of “Dumb Ways to Die” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QV2HAYKP7E&feature=plcp
The success of ‘Dumb Ways to Die’ has been driven by a carefully planned digital strategy underpinning McCann’s campaign. “Our digital strategy leveraged the platforms most relevant to the target audience – teenagers and young adults – from the start of the campaign,” said McCann Head of Digital Justine Marino.
“The Tumblr page (http://dumbwaystodie.tumblr.com/) was actually created pre-launch to ensure the campaign made it onto the front page of Reddit, in order to generate a strong viral impact extremely quickly. The website (DumbWaysToDie.com),
YouTube and Tumblr formed the three main campaign platforms, with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest used to generate viral effect. We also turned iTunes and Soundcloud into media vehicles for the campaign.”
Watch the original video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJNR2EpS0jw The catchy tune and music video are designed to clearly capture the reality of most train accidents – they’re almost entirely preventable and would never happen if the people involved didn’t do something dumb.
The campaign aims to reduce the number of serious and fatal accidents on the Metro Trains Melbourne rail network.
Source: McCann press release
