Today, humor has become a powerful and effective means of conveying messages. Delivering a message that makes people laugh ensures that your message cuts through the noise and reaches the target audience. An outstanding example of applying humor in advertising is the “Dumb Ways to Die” campaign by Metro Trains Australia. This three-minute YouTube video features colorful animated characters singing a humorous song and illustrating ways to avoid easily preventable deaths. The campaign not only raised awareness about rail safety but also created a playful brand that expanded into products and mobile games.
This not only garnered over 220 million views on YouTube but also reduced dangerous behaviors around railways by 30% and secured safety commitments from 127 million people. A conversation with Dean Mendes, Senior Digital Marketing Manager at Metro Trains, sheds light on the strategy behind the campaign and how every brand can inject more humor into marketing.
According to Mendes, the campaign targeted the younger demographic to communicate rail safety in a non-traditional way. Using humor was a way to capture the attention of this audience rather than merely issuing prohibitions. Through extensive research and testing, they arrived at the “Dumb Ways to Die” song after multiple iterations, clearly expressing their intention to create entertaining and humorous content.
However, an important lesson from this campaign is the need to recognize which humor is genuinely amusing and which might hurt customer emotions. The use of humorous cartoon characters in unusual situations, such as petting a venomous snake or dressing like a deer during hunting season, turned a serious theme into something absurd.
This campaign quickly became a social media sensation, airing on television and radio stations worldwide, becoming an instant viral phenomenon. By encouraging others to be creative and remix their videos, Metro Trains significantly boosted the campaign’s views.
If you are considering adding humor to your marketing strategy, Mendes recommends determining whether humor aligns with your message and, most importantly, whether it resonates with the target audience. Additionally, obtaining approval from senior leadership is crucial. While caution is necessary when deciding to use humor, once the decision is made, be confident and unhesitant in exploring the full potential that humor brings to marketing.
Humor in marketing brings a sense of enjoyment to the audience, but for serious brands, careful consideration is advised. Communication is inherently a double-edged sword for the same issue.
Author Ho Duc Duy © All rights reserved.
