This is how the “dumb ways to die”marketing campaign succeeded

3 min readJun 26, 2021

There was a time, the “Dumb Ways to Die” video on YouTube was one of the most successful marketing campaigns. But what was the technique behind their success? And why did they succeed? Let’s learn more about this campaign.

Sydney, Australia (Photo by perry c on Unsplash)

One day, as of the third quarter of 2012, Melbourne Metro was in need of a creative agency to create a rail safety campaign. A reporter from Melbourne’s main newspaper, an agency world-renowned for its unique coverage of rail safety issues, was deemed by McCann Melbourne to contextualize the campaign.

Because of that, the agency made a humorous public service announcement instead of a serious one. Featuring dumb things, you can do to die. Such as stabbing a grizzly bear, selling their kidney online as a way of making the point that trains are dangerous and one of the dumbest ways to die. The audience they were attempting to reach, specifically young commuters, were not interested in hearing safety messages. And the fact that it is not for profit, but to raise awareness about rail safety, is incredible.

Because of that, it became viral on YouTube, and it was widely shared on social media. It also appeared in newspapers, on the radio, on Metro trains, posters at train stations, advertisements in public spaces, and Tumbler set up a specifically dedicated page for people to share and remix the content. In just 24 hours, the song topped the iTunes charts. Furthermore, Metro Trains reported that the number of incidents at train stations decreased by 21%. It was a smashing success.

Metro Trains Melbourne, Dumb Ways to Die ( 15 Nov 2012 )

Although it is impossible to determine the key performance indicators (KPIs) precisely, the campaign is expected to generate a lot of coverage online and offline.

Finaly, here are some of the “Dumb ways to die” marketing techniques:

1. Begin with question

Start with a question that will draw readers in. This video opens by sitting a question, thus reflecting one of the most efficient ways to write content marketing titles. Questions attract viewers’ attention. They want to find out the answer. So, they click on headlines and watch the video.

2. Conclude with an answer

Call for action at the end of your answer. Tell stories on the way. Viewers are encouraged to take action or view more of your content through this method.

3. Positive rather than negative

This song has positive messages despite its negative lyrics. Engaging viewers is more likely when marketing content is positive. It is common for them to ignore negative advertising. Several new videos have been released on the campaign, including “smart ways to live.” It spreads more positive content than the old one.

4. Develop your campaign

One of the things that this company did to expand their campaign, is releasing an iOS game app in May 2013. Throughout the story, players must keep their distance from the many dangers they encounter. In addition, players can pledge not to do dumb things around trains, such as poking grizzly bears with sticks. It also has a spin-off released in 2019, a second spin-off, and a third one.