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Week 8 (30.11 - 06.12) Dumb Ways To Die

Just to avoid the misunderstanding – it is not going to be an article about Darwin’s awards – I would like to write about the creative ways of making social campaigns based on the most popular one- which was named as the topic od this article.
When we think of social campaigns, first thing which crosses our mind is that it need to be created in dark colors, the viewers should be scared watching  it and we basically associate it with negative feelings. The problem is, we are used to them and within the time we hardly notice them. Nowadays we are surrounded by brutality- it’s everywhere in news, in games, on the  Internet.
And here comes the Dump Ways To Die –a  campaign created for Melbourne Metro. The problem was that young Australians were acting foolish around the trains – it resulted in injuries and deaths. The most important thing was to influence the audience, which was not easy as teenagers do not like to be told what they  can or can’t do. How did they do it? If you haven’t seen it yet, here is the main song of the campaign:
As you can see it’s completely different than a “typical” social campaign  and because of that it was very successful not only in Australia but all around the world. For now it has over 116 billion views on YouTube, it was played at radio stations and shown in news all around the world for free – and it’s estimated that the campaign gathered an estimated $60 million in earned media.
As a follow up of the camping  a mobile game was created. It was based on the same idea and it was also very successful. It became TOP 1 free app in 21 countries including USA, UK, Canada, Australia, and Germany and it reached top 100 in 101 countries.
And the most important statistic is: 21% reduction in railway accidents and near misses followed the campaign.
Jus to shortly sum up – in my opinion it is very important to think of a social problem in creative ways – it doesn’t mean that every campaign about them should be happy as Dump Ways To Die but as we can see by the results it’s important to find the new ways to attract the target audience. To give you more samples, please find below one of the most successful social campaigns from Poland. Let me know what you think? Do you remember any social campaign which was interesting and you would like to share it with us? 


Sources:

Comments

Kit said…
Heck nope. This bus campaign is sending greatly mixed signals. First you get two minutes long projection of the sad life this miserable bus struggle, then it stumble upon a tiny glimpse of hope and ... and dies a horrible death.
Thats not how it should be done, thats a cheap emotional blackmail.
If it was a product commercial, it would probably be banned.

Anyway, i reminded myself of this social campaign parody : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9S75Rfva9O8
Oh my God… This video is so tragically creepy. Before the end I didn’t know what it is about, it should finish at the moment when kids with parent saw this bus and they should call and report that it is unsafe. It would be enough but this butterfly and the rest… I have no words. I don’t know who did that but he is crazy. The social campaigns in general in Poland are tragic. People have no idea how to promote important issue.

I don’t think that it necessary to create game or something that takes a lot of time. It should be short and substantive. I can’t find example of something that was shown in proper way in Poland. But recently in my opinion this is great campaign:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6-0kYhqoRo
Unknown said…
Well i hoped someone will write comment as this one - after they published bus ad, there were a lot of comments as your - but the truth is the campaing went really well. even though a lot of people said bad thing avout t the results are very good- and that is the perpouse of campaigns like this. I like it bacause it's effective :)
Unknown said…
i can't agree - what makes campaign sucessful are results . Here beside creative values and awards we also have statistic of reduction of accidents in metro - it shows us that it was understood by target group:)
Can you link the source to the information about the statistics of the 'bus' campaign? You say it was successful, but, as other people here, I also don't think it was well-made - sure, it gathered a lot of attention, but most people had absolutely no idea what the campaign was all about. I would like to see some data stating there was an increase of safety after the campaign.

As to social campaigns, I can't agree with the commenters that all Polish campaigns are bad. Sure, a lot of them are - but good ones also exist. For example:

Książkowe Love
Czy zamierza pan zajść w ciążę?
Jak przeżyć atak samicy
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said…
Here is the case made by angency which created the bus campaign:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzQXjogG8zE
I think it will explain a lot.
Thank for examples - why do you think those are good campaigns? (Just what to know your point of view, not saying they are not :))
Unknown said…
It's an interesting topic. Have any of you played the "Dumb ways to die" game? It's hard but pretty fun and it's made in a similar manner to the video.
Unknown said…
I had a chance to watch this sad bus campaign some time earlier, but my opinion on it didn't change. It's terrible. It shows a miserable life of an old bus and makes us sympathize with it, gives us hope (butterfly) and then BAM! the poor bus gets smashed heartlessly. To be honest I didn't care about the true message behind the campaign, I felt sad for the poor bus and hated the people who killed it. Which is not the intention of the campaign I believe. :) But I get it. It was shocking so more and more people watched it, talked about it, shared it. I checked the link you posted in reply to Patrycja's comment and it looks like upsetting viewers was pretty much the studio's idea.
Unknown said…
I really like the "Czy zamierza pan zajść w ciążę?". Shows a familiar situation, lets us identify with the guy and feel the awkwardness of the question.
Kit said…
I'm taking about campaign encouraging to report old or worn out buses, so they can rest in pieces instead of being used as transportation. The 'Smutny Autobus' one. And its campaign don't even present the bad sides of traveling by worn out bus, so its basically saying the opposite to the thing its trying to encourage.
And I'm not sure, how many buses get withdrawn from the roads and salvaged after this, but it'll be hard to believe it made any difference.
Kit said…
Hey, I'm in a similar situation. I just learned what it was about all along. And it was about a smartphone app. I was so distracted by the random-controversial-distracting story this much, I found out just now.
Unknown said…
I know this advertising campaign and I like it very much. I agree with what you wrote, it is very important - creativity and unique nature - when you creating such social awareness-raising campaigns. Most social campaigns are trying to arouse fear and terror but according to me on a daily basis does not focus people attention, we all know what, so it does not impress us. This campaign is unique because attracts the viewer's attention because of its absurdity but also give you a little moment to reflect on presented topic. It's something like - you can smile through the tears.
Unknown said…
I saw some time ago this campaign and I think that is really great. It is a great example of that pretty and nice animation can show serious and sad problem. At first, as I saw it I thought it was a cartoon. It's a better option than showing the terrible scenes, because we want to watch, and also know about what's going on. As for the campaign bus, as a few people have mentioned, In my opinion it wakes me up conflicting feelings and It's a bit confusing. You feel sorry for the main character and attach to it, then it's crushed. It's terrible. For me, this campaign doesn't show a problem well.
Tomasz Wojda said…
I associate educational and social capaigns with huge failure in Poland. There are just a few that remains remembered. As Marta K said creativity and unique nature - thats basic if you want to target young peaple. Creating interesting contents like video and mobile games is one of the best ways to achieve success of the campaing - only when after great idea is followed with even better realisation.
Unknown said…
Campaign which you have adduced is the most famous and the most touching the last days. When I've seen it first time I was crying like beaver... I agree with you that it is good, very good.
Unknown said…
I completely agree with you. I have the same feelings.
Unknown said…

Dumb Ways to Die achieved success. Some time ago was really loudly about it. I like it. I think that author shows huge society problem in an accessible way and I think that it is a great solution for such shares.
Regarding with "Smutny autobus" he touches me and I sympathize him :P The white bus is so scurvy and spiteful...
Unknown said…
I've tired it - it's so simple but so engaging that i coundn't stop playing.
Unknown said…
Well- good campaing should have emotions in it. The ugly truth is that the old bus should be "killed" - in the metter of safty you should not hava any doubts about it - and that's why they made the campaing like this.
Unknown said…
This is how social campaigns should be made. It's catchy, it's informative, it's aesthetically pleasing. I would like to see more so well made social campaigns. Especially in Poland. The only decent I saw recently is 'Alkohol i kluczyki? Wykluczone' which is all over TV right now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmWFJ3trzW8 It shows how people can stop others from driving after alcohol. In many fun-ish ways.
Unknown said…
Happy to hear that :) Most of comments regards the bus campaign which was just an add on to the topic but the most important one was the Dumb Ways To Die - and it should be a banchmark for campaign creators.
Unknown said…
It's not a matter of showing the problem - the most important thing is what we understand from the campaing and as the results shows it was understood well.
Unknown said…
I remember when I saw for the first time this campaign about "smutny autobus" . I was very positively surprised because it was presented in a very original way. Generally in our country the campaigns are poorly made and searching a very good campaigns in our country is it like looking for a needle in a haystack. I like the campaign displayed on a monitor in the underground subway. They show a bad behavior of people who travel by subway. Those people are represented as the monsters in a humorous way and giving to us a reflect if we belong to that kind of people already.
Unknown said…
I found new example - what do you think about this one :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juEAccZaoJ0
I think it shows that we can think creativly :)
Unknown said…
The problem is that the white bus is safe and the other one is not - and even though we like something we should always remamber that the most important thing is safty.
I love this social campaign – everything about it is well thought and executed (hihi).

I like “you are beautiful” campaigns and the ones that cover driving problems (seatbelts, phones, speeding). Here are some of my most favourites:

Dove – Real Beauty Sketches
Unsung hero

Speaking of trains: I don’t know how people die hit by trains. Maybe it is the result of being in a hurry or inattentive, but I do not understand that they do not look to the left and right to simply check if there is or isn’t a HUGE TRAIN ON FULL SPEED going right at them. People, if you don’t want to be late for work – leave 5 minutes earlier, do not risk your life just because you don’t want to wait a minute for the train to pass. Here’s a link to an article about people crossing the rails illegally in Warsaw.

I hate the Sad Bus campaign! The same thing goes for the new Christmas campaign that gained some popularity in the last couple of days – an older, lonely man fakes his own death and sends funeral notes to his whole family to get them spend Christmas with him. Imagine how you would feel after such deceit! I know that he was lonely and everything, I know that his family didn’t act right, but this is not a way to do it. What do you think about this ad?
Unknown said…
Cool - thanks for sharing another case. I hear this campaign every day in radio and it's catchy. They showed other perceptive of the topic and "aimed" not drinking drivers but their friends - I hope it'll be successful.
Unknown said…
Why did this stupid lady killed that poor bus? He might have had dreams or family. This movie is soo brutal. I almost let a tear out of a heartless prison. And this game is kind of "new" but still no fun for me. More stupid then useful no education purpose and no good action or ideas. Dumb Ways to Die please Die!
Unknown said…
Finally someone who says about Smytny Autobus positively Emotikon smile I think that every campaign which shows another approach to the topic is worth seeing - because people who created it put a lot of effort to do it.
Unknown said…
Regarding trains accidents - I think it's because people are not paying attention to safety. How many time we see people who stand beside the safety line on platforms just to be first at the door.
Unknown said…
Well she "killed" it for a reason - we should have no scruples when it comes to safety
In my opinion, this sort of campaign is effective because it’s abstract and appeal to a lot of people. Many people watch the video because they are interested in the message that it’s being conveyit by the campaign. The abstract campaign provide that pay attention and remember the message in the campaign. This increase retention and the awareness of the public of the audience who watch the campaign.
Unknown said…
I totally agree with you. Thanks for comment :)
Aleksander M said…
This is still one of the most original and interesting social campaigns that ever happened. Every little thing about the video is done right and even the tune is really catchy.

I think I remember seeing part 2 somewhere? Not sure about that, it was a while ago and wasn't nearly as good as the original video if my memory is right.

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