A little while ago I was visiting a friend and playing with her two children, aged 8 and 4. They introduced me to an iPad/iPhone game called “Dumb Ways to Die” – a great app from Melbourne Metro who have created a simple, fun addictive game with a public safety message!
It was obviously a big hit with the kids, and it didn’t take long for the catchy song/video that was part of the app to get stuck in my head.
The public safety campaign was launched back in 2012 so the song my be familiar to many and at the time of writing, it has had almost 56 million views on YouTube but the game was only launched in May 2013 (according to Wikipedia).
Melbourne Metro did well to capitalise on the popular campaign with a truly engaging mobile app!
An earlier version of the app also included a safety pledge, to reinforce the public safety message but unfortunately this has been removed from the most recent version!
I recommend that you check the game out, not just because it’s fun, but because it’s a great example of how to make a seemingly dull, difficult message, engaging and captivating! So engaging in fact that it has spawned many parodies on YouTube!
You can also see a Case Study about the campaign on YouTube from Australian Brand News:
Who knew train safety could be so much fun?! Have you seen any other examples of seemingly dull messages being made engaging through awesome content?