LO1: Analysis of Media Campaign: Dumb Ways to Die

Dumb Ways to Die was released in November 2012, and was created by Metro to increase awareness around trains. The video was released on YouTube, and during 48 hours the video gained 2.5 million views, and by December 2015, the video had gained 117 million views.

Here is the original video:

As you can see the video features 21 characters who kill themselves in stupid ways, these methods get more ridiculous and humorous until the last three, which feature accidents caused by foolish decisions made around trains. This is because the key message of the campaign was to increase awareness around trains, due to the amount of previous accidents. 

Reasons I think the video became so popular so quickly:

1. The video is funny: One of the most popular genres of film and television is comedy. Therefore in order to make a campaign successful, it is a good idea to incorporate humour into the campaign. This video includes things that a whole range of audiences will find funny. The video features a character using their private bits for piranha bate, a character who sells their organs on the internet, and someone who is dumb enough to walk up to a grizzly bare and poke it with a stick. All these things can be laughed at, since they are such ridiculous and unrealistic ways to die. I think it is because of the comedy, that the audience continues watching the video all the way through to the end, once they've reached the end, they should be concentrating fully, it is then that the video tells the audience about being safe around trains.

2. The video is a music video for a catchy and cheerful song: It is important that the song was catchy, so that the song sticks in audience's heads, so that they remember the key message. The song was also very cheerful, which contrasted with the videos dark humour.

3. The video was released on YouTube: YouTube has now become probably the most popular site on the video to go and watch videos on. YouTube was probably the best way to put the video out there, because people use it all the time, and people can share YouTube videos on social media with ease. It is also free to upload videos onto YouTube, which is helpful if you are on a low budget .

4. The video was animated: The video was animated in a style which can be appreciated by most people. Animation has became a very popular format for audio-visual products, which is why it was chosen to create the Dumb Ways to Die campaign. On top of this, with animation, you are free distort reality in way which would be incredibly expensive to create using live action. For example when the character takes their helmet of in outer space, their head explodes into blood. If Metro did this using live action, the video would incredibly expensive to make, and to gory for young audiences. 

The campaign also included a game which could be played on smart phones was released, which featured tasks such as flicking away piranhas, taking toast out with a fork carefully, along with being patient while waiting in a car for a train to go past, and staying of the train tracks. It is the train related tasks which continue to drive the key message home. 

Example of a task which is not related to the key message:

 

Example of a task which is related to the key message:


I think this game was successful because it was enjoyable to play, and engaged the player in tasks which were fun and satisfying to complete. As well as having a scoring system, the game also gave you three lives each time you played the game, which makes the game more tense, and encourages the player not to make any mistakes, therefore driving the message home even more. Another reason I think this game was successful was because it didn't focus purely on tasks related to the key message, I think if the game only focused on train safety, the player would feel to much like they were playing an educational game, which for some players would have taken the fun out of it. Since the game mixed in more imaginative ways of dying along with more realistic ways, the game was more fun to play.

It was also important that the game was released to be played on smart phone, since they are the most common type of the device anyone is going to own. The game was more likely to be played since it could be found easily on any app store, and it could be played for free. People especially like games which are free.

The campaign also included a website, which includes interactive tasks, including the game, and a second version of the game. The website also features latest news on the Campaign. The website also features a shop on which you can by merchandise related to Dumb Ways to Die. Merchandise includes a school bag, plushy toys and key rings.

I think the whole campaign targeted any one who used or is going to use Metro Trains, therefore in terms of age range, people 12 and upwards. Creative Director McCann also said that "The aim of this campaign is to engage an audience that really doesnt want to hear any kind of safety message...".

I think the campaign was successful on  a whole because each different section of the campaign featured the same characters, who are all dying in the same stupid ways. It was the characters that became the campaigns brand, since the style of animation is very recognizable.