Dumb Ways to Die and The People Who Died Doing Them

Melbourne, Australia’s Metro train system hired McCann advertising agency to create a campaign ensuring we’re all in agreement that “trains are big, fast and not to be messed with”. Metro specifically wanted to reach the people who “just don’t get it. To stop them from that brain fade, from doing something dumb and being hit by a train.” McCann gave them this gem: http://dumbwaystodie.com.

I love, love, love the adorable and ill-fated character design. The song is even kind of infectious. Metro and McCann had me at cute characters and Dumb Ways to Die, but they sealed the affair with a tumblr full of gifs.

Are Americans uptight about death? I pose this question because in October, I featured  those (albeit unauthorized) Considerate Suicide PSAs on the London Tube, and now we’ve got the Aussies animating Metro crashes. Somehow, I can’t imagine our very own Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) getting on board with this macabre humor. I guess subway deaths are sacred, but we Americans sure do love a good trainwreck!

Speaking of San Francisco, did anyone else watch Dumb Ways to Die and immediately think of Jim Carroll? I’ve always loved “People Who Died,” and here’s Carroll performing his signature song live at San Francisco’s Mabuhay Gardens in 1978. “Eddie I miss you more than all the others; this song is for you my brother!”

It’s almost Thanksgiving Day. Look at all the ways you could have died. You can thank me later.