Medium Precedents
Dumb Ways To Die:
"The viral juggernaut of a spot—with lyrics by McCann’s John Mescall, music by Ollie McGill from the band The Cat Empire, and performance by Emily Lubitz of Tinpan Orange—was viewed more than 30 million times in its first two weeks. The official YouTube view tally is now over 147 million. “The idea for a song started from a very simple premise: What if we disguised a worthy safety message inside something that didn’t feel at all like a safety message?” Mescall told Adweek at the time. “We thought about what the complete opposite of a serious safety message would be, and came to the conclusion it was an insanely happy and cute song.”"
"Australian designer Julian Frost did the animation. “Julian was keen to contrast the extreme situations described in the lyrics with the simplest animation possible. Otherwise it would become just too much,” Mescall said."
"Dumb Ways to Die, a clever public service message from Metro Trains in Melbourne, has swept all before it becoming the most successful ad campaign in the history of the Cannes International Festival of Creativity."
"The campaign, by agency McCann Melbourne, has taken five grand prix awards, the most that a campaign has ever notched up at the awards. It has won the film, radio, PR, direct and integrated categories. It is the second year running that the top film award has gone to a campaign with a social message — US fast food chain Chipotle won last year with a similarly-styled animation-with-music ad about sustainable farming and production."
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/jun/22/cannes-lions-advertising-awards
"It swept the awards at Sunday's Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, winning a record five Grand Prix awards, 18 Gold Lions, three Silver Lions and two Bronze Lions, the most ever awarded to one campaign in the festival's 59-year history."
""The idea stemmed from our staff seeing people doing risky or dumb things around trains," said Leah Waymark, General Manager Corporate Relations at Metro Melbourne, which partnered with advertising agency McCann Melbourne to produce the video."
"Best of all, Metro Trains reports a 21 percent reduction in accidents and deaths since the campaign began."
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-advertising-die-idUSBRE95N03L20130624
Simon’s Cat:
Simply exposing a cat's true nature.
"Simon’s Cat is a charming, yet mischievous cat that lives with his long suffering owner – Simon. He made his first appearance online, in a film called Cat Man Do, made by animator and illustrator, Simon Tofield. Since then he has appeared in books, games and comic strips."
"Who is Simon Tofield? Simon is an English animator, who has a great interest in British wildlife, painting, the great outdoors and of course cats."
https://simonscat.com/faqs/
"Simon's Cat is an animated cartoon and book series by the British animator Simon Tofield featuring a hungry house cat who uses increasingly heavy-handed tactics to get his owner to feed him."
"Cats have provided the web with funny videos and pictures providing countless viral hits – but Simon’s Cat is the unlikely megastar. His charming animated, black-and-white adventures have now amassed more than 500m views on YouTube, and led to books and merchandising that funds an entire studio in London. He is a phenomenon that simply would not have emerged without the web."
"The origins of Simon’s Cat are typical story of internet success: Simon Tofield was an animator learning the programming language Adobe Flash. He set himself a challenge to encourage him to learn it - Tofield is severely dyslexic - and came up with the idea of a short animation about a cat waking up his owner, based on his own cat, Hugh. ‘Cat Man Do’ languished on a showreel for a year, until a company asked him if they could put it online. They did, and its 35,000 almost immediate views crashed their server."
"In a sense, the rest is internet history. From those 2008 beginnings, Simon’s Cat has gone on to become the UK’s number one animation channel on YouTube, producing new films with the same Flash methods every couple of months."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/10975708/Simons-Cat-will-viewers-fund-a-longer-film.html
Legend (Ghost Chips):
"To encourage Americans to forego their subconscious biases towards their peers, the Ad Council launched a transmedia campaign that took off with this viral video. It accumulates 40 million views so far. Thousands of social network users also added a graphic overlay to their personal photos in support of equality. This campaign asked viewers to join the conversation by using the #LoveHasNoLabels to tag their photos. Next time you’re designing for a social initiative, think about how user generated content (like those photo overlays) can help the idea spread faster."
"The Ad Council launched the Love Has No Labelscampaign with a simple message – rethink the biases you didn't even know you had. Ultimately, we sought to promote acceptance and appreciation of all communities regardless of race, religion, gender, sexuality, age and ability by raising awareness for implicit biases. Since we were launching a brand new campaign, our main goal was to create awareness about the issue and the campaign. We drove video viewers to the campaign website, which features a quiz where you can examine your own biases and find resources on how to get involved."
"In addition to the online video, the integrated campaign included a website built on Tumblr featuring a quiz where visitors can examine their own biases and new social communities on Facebook and Twitter where audiences could find additional content on how to overcome those biases."
"To extend the campaign, we tapped into celebrities and social media influencers to help spread our messages. Additionally, campaign outreach incorporated activations around key times of year, including Mother's Day, Hispanic Heritage Month, Pride Month and Fourth of July. We activated the campaign at NYC Pride 2015, marching in the parade and setting up gif and video booths for people to share their #lovehasnolabels stories."
"Since the initial video debuted exclusively on Upworthy's Facebook page, it has been viewed over 160 million times making it the 2nd most viewed video of 2015. Additionally, it was the 2nd most viral video on Facebook, the 4th most viewed on YouTube and one of the best performing Upworthy videos of all time. It is the second most viewed social activism video ever behind Kony 2012."
"To date, there were more than 2.7 million visits to www.lovehasnolabels.com. The campaign also encourages audiences to use Faces of Love, a social tool on the campaign website, to upload a picture showing how their love has no labels. More than 1,000 personal stories have been shared in the social gallery of the website and the hashtag has been used over 30,000 times generating over 110 million potential impressions."
"Thelwell is regarded as the unofficial artist of the British countryside and is possibly the most popular cartoonist in Britain, since the Second World War. He commented on many aspects of human behaviour, but he is perhaps most synonymous with little girls and their little fat ponies. They have helped to ensure his continuing popularity and his immortality."
http://www.thelwell.org.uk
"The artist, who died in 2004, drew Penelope and her mischievous pony Kipper in hundreds of humorous scenarios, including the destruction of country fairs."
"Quick now…what best describes a shaggy, short, naughty, can’t-be-caught, too smart for its own good pony? If you said, “A Thelwell Pony” you win first prize. Little did Norman Thelwell know that when he began to create his cartoon riders and ponies, the words “Thelwell pony” would eventually apply to his diminutive equine creations the world over."
"How did the man who got ponies, horses, dogs, elegant riders, plump pony mad children, tweedy bowler hatted riding instructors and rotund whiskered hunting Masters down to a “T” when he had only once been on a horse? The artist’s eye sees what many others do not and as a country resident, he recalled watching two chubby girls manage/try to catch and halter two equally chubby devious ponies in a field. It was a game of chase, cajole, and catch for them and inspiration for him. The “Thelwell pony” was created on paper and took on a life of its own for decades to come to the delight of millions who appreciated the equine antics even if they had never stepped inside a stable yard."
"However it was in 1953 that his pony cartoons enraptured and captured instantaneous response. He got fan mail begging for more and was asked by his editor to do a two page spread on ponies. Although he thought that the initial pony picture was the end of ponies, it was quite the opposite and the “Thelwell pony” was born. Little did he know what a wealth of subject matter there was to be found within the tiny naughty minds of shaggy ponies and the efforts of the pony mad girls who tried to ride and control them."
"For horse people and even non horse people, Thelwell’s cartoons never fail to bring a chuckle, and best of all you don’t need to know the difference between a hock and a hard hat to see the humour in his sketches."
https://www.horse-canada.com/horses-and-history/norman-thelwell/
Pencilworld (Toby Morris):
"Toby Morris is an Auckland based illustrator and comic artist. He is the creator of the Pencilsword and also half of the Toby and Toby duo behind the series 'That is the question' at radionz.co.nz."
 |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJNR2EpS0jw |
"The viral juggernaut of a spot—with lyrics by McCann’s John Mescall, music by Ollie McGill from the band The Cat Empire, and performance by Emily Lubitz of Tinpan Orange—was viewed more than 30 million times in its first two weeks. The official YouTube view tally is now over 147 million. “The idea for a song started from a very simple premise: What if we disguised a worthy safety message inside something that didn’t feel at all like a safety message?” Mescall told Adweek at the time. “We thought about what the complete opposite of a serious safety message would be, and came to the conclusion it was an insanely happy and cute song.”"
"Australian designer Julian Frost did the animation. “Julian was keen to contrast the extreme situations described in the lyrics with the simplest animation possible. Otherwise it would become just too much,” Mescall said."
"Australia’s most awarded and talked about campaign in recent years is the Metro Trains ‘Dumb Ways to Die’. Indeed, this campaign by McCann Melbourne has achieved near-legendary status in advertising circles.
The campaign launch centred around a melodic music video featuring animated creatures who die in comically unintelligent ways, before finally highlighting that due to train predictability, accidental death due to contact with trains is quite possibly the dumbest way of all."
"The seemingly simple brief on rail safety awareness achieved cult success on a global scale, in which the characters are now almost universally recognised. But one must ask the question: was the campaign truly effective? Did the campaign function to save lives?"
"As John Mescall stated above, the content has to be great. Viral relies on shareability, so if the content is weak or obviously advertising – it won’t work. The idea has to be long-lasting and ideally renew itself from time to time in order to create a consistent fan base. ‘Generation Y’ expects to be involved, so whatever you do: it has to be interactive and entertaining. But what happens if you combine all the above?"
"The campaign was massively successful (in terms of numbers). In April 2014, the video has been viewed 77 million times on YouTube. The game became No. 1 free app in 21 countries including USA, UK, Canada, Australia, and Germany and it reached top 100 in 101 countries, top 1,000 in 148 countries. In six weeks, DWTD gathered an estimated $60 million in earned media.
"So, the numbers are spectacular, but we must not disregard the initial brief: an awareness campaign to decrease railway accidents. Here the numbers become less clear. A 21% reduction in railway accidents and near misses followed the campaign. But of course this is not solid proof of the effectiveness of the campaign."
"John Mescall’s view on the subject: “Campaigns don’t live in a vacuum. It’s hard to tell if the numbers had anything to do with the campaign or it was just a lucky coincidence. They were supplied to us by the guys at Metro. This campaign is designed to give an entire generation a language through which they can actually discuss rail safety and put it on the agenda for people. But we did have a short term result in the numbers. What strengthened the campaign aside from the short term results is the fact that rail safety is not invisible anymore. We carved out a territory so people can now actually talk about it. An advertising campaign can often have a short term effect.”"
"Dumb Ways to Die started from a truly engaging and well thought-through piece of content. McCann Melbourne figured out the right way to reach a young audience who no longer respond to traditional advertising and being told what to do."
"If you want your message to go viral you have to let go. John Mescall, Executive Creative Director from McCann Melbourne, shares his lesson: “We live in an age where marketers have enormous power. Social media has given us the possibility to influence like never before, but you can only do that if you are willing to give up control. See your ideas as a start for something rather than the beginning and the end. Allow people to repurpose them, reimagine them. Then you’ll have the power to influence like never before. From day one, we encouraged people to make it their own.""
"The campaign still lives on. If the agency had settled on the video and some posters, chances are, they would have been forgotten quite quickly. Instead, they kept it going: a video, karaoke version, spoofs, posters, game, book, merchandise, etc. Dumb Ways to Die is a longterm franchise which shows no signs of fading away."
http://www.best-marketing.eu/case-study-metro-trains-dumb-ways-to-die/
The campaign launch centred around a melodic music video featuring animated creatures who die in comically unintelligent ways, before finally highlighting that due to train predictability, accidental death due to contact with trains is quite possibly the dumbest way of all."
"The seemingly simple brief on rail safety awareness achieved cult success on a global scale, in which the characters are now almost universally recognised. But one must ask the question: was the campaign truly effective? Did the campaign function to save lives?"
"As John Mescall stated above, the content has to be great. Viral relies on shareability, so if the content is weak or obviously advertising – it won’t work. The idea has to be long-lasting and ideally renew itself from time to time in order to create a consistent fan base. ‘Generation Y’ expects to be involved, so whatever you do: it has to be interactive and entertaining. But what happens if you combine all the above?"
"The campaign was massively successful (in terms of numbers). In April 2014, the video has been viewed 77 million times on YouTube. The game became No. 1 free app in 21 countries including USA, UK, Canada, Australia, and Germany and it reached top 100 in 101 countries, top 1,000 in 148 countries. In six weeks, DWTD gathered an estimated $60 million in earned media.
"So, the numbers are spectacular, but we must not disregard the initial brief: an awareness campaign to decrease railway accidents. Here the numbers become less clear. A 21% reduction in railway accidents and near misses followed the campaign. But of course this is not solid proof of the effectiveness of the campaign."
"John Mescall’s view on the subject: “Campaigns don’t live in a vacuum. It’s hard to tell if the numbers had anything to do with the campaign or it was just a lucky coincidence. They were supplied to us by the guys at Metro. This campaign is designed to give an entire generation a language through which they can actually discuss rail safety and put it on the agenda for people. But we did have a short term result in the numbers. What strengthened the campaign aside from the short term results is the fact that rail safety is not invisible anymore. We carved out a territory so people can now actually talk about it. An advertising campaign can often have a short term effect.”"
"Dumb Ways to Die started from a truly engaging and well thought-through piece of content. McCann Melbourne figured out the right way to reach a young audience who no longer respond to traditional advertising and being told what to do."
"If you want your message to go viral you have to let go. John Mescall, Executive Creative Director from McCann Melbourne, shares his lesson: “We live in an age where marketers have enormous power. Social media has given us the possibility to influence like never before, but you can only do that if you are willing to give up control. See your ideas as a start for something rather than the beginning and the end. Allow people to repurpose them, reimagine them. Then you’ll have the power to influence like never before. From day one, we encouraged people to make it their own.""
"The campaign still lives on. If the agency had settled on the video and some posters, chances are, they would have been forgotten quite quickly. Instead, they kept it going: a video, karaoke version, spoofs, posters, game, book, merchandise, etc. Dumb Ways to Die is a longterm franchise which shows no signs of fading away."
http://www.best-marketing.eu/case-study-metro-trains-dumb-ways-to-die/
"Dumb Ways to Die, a clever public service message from Metro Trains in Melbourne, has swept all before it becoming the most successful ad campaign in the history of the Cannes International Festival of Creativity."
"The campaign, by agency McCann Melbourne, has taken five grand prix awards, the most that a campaign has ever notched up at the awards. It has won the film, radio, PR, direct and integrated categories. It is the second year running that the top film award has gone to a campaign with a social message — US fast food chain Chipotle won last year with a similarly-styled animation-with-music ad about sustainable farming and production."
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/jun/22/cannes-lions-advertising-awards
"It swept the awards at Sunday's Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, winning a record five Grand Prix awards, 18 Gold Lions, three Silver Lions and two Bronze Lions, the most ever awarded to one campaign in the festival's 59-year history."
""The idea stemmed from our staff seeing people doing risky or dumb things around trains," said Leah Waymark, General Manager Corporate Relations at Metro Melbourne, which partnered with advertising agency McCann Melbourne to produce the video."
"Best of all, Metro Trains reports a 21 percent reduction in accidents and deaths since the campaign began."
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-advertising-die-idUSBRE95N03L20130624
Simon’s Cat:
 |
| https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH6vXjt-BA7QHl0KnfL-7RQ |
Simply exposing a cat's true nature.
"Simon’s Cat is a charming, yet mischievous cat that lives with his long suffering owner – Simon. He made his first appearance online, in a film called Cat Man Do, made by animator and illustrator, Simon Tofield. Since then he has appeared in books, games and comic strips."
"Who is Simon Tofield? Simon is an English animator, who has a great interest in British wildlife, painting, the great outdoors and of course cats."
https://simonscat.com/faqs/
"Simon's Cat is an animated cartoon and book series by the British animator Simon Tofield featuring a hungry house cat who uses increasingly heavy-handed tactics to get his owner to feed him."
"Cats have provided the web with funny videos and pictures providing countless viral hits – but Simon’s Cat is the unlikely megastar. His charming animated, black-and-white adventures have now amassed more than 500m views on YouTube, and led to books and merchandising that funds an entire studio in London. He is a phenomenon that simply would not have emerged without the web."
"The origins of Simon’s Cat are typical story of internet success: Simon Tofield was an animator learning the programming language Adobe Flash. He set himself a challenge to encourage him to learn it - Tofield is severely dyslexic - and came up with the idea of a short animation about a cat waking up his owner, based on his own cat, Hugh. ‘Cat Man Do’ languished on a showreel for a year, until a company asked him if they could put it online. They did, and its 35,000 almost immediate views crashed their server."
"In a sense, the rest is internet history. From those 2008 beginnings, Simon’s Cat has gone on to become the UK’s number one animation channel on YouTube, producing new films with the same Flash methods every couple of months."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/10975708/Simons-Cat-will-viewers-fund-a-longer-film.html
Legend (Ghost Chips):
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| https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/legend-ghost-chips |
"Shock tactics have taken a back seat to comedy in the latest anti-drink driving advert aimed at a new generation.
The clip, named Legend, was created for the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) as part of its ongoing road safety campaign.
It features a young man "internalising a really complicated situation" as he ponders whether or not to tell his mate not to drive home.
Rather than using the graphic images and emotional blackmail of previous campaigns, the clip instead relies on comedy to get its message across.
In a measure of its success, the term "ghost chips" - featured during one section of the ad - has already become a joke on Facebook, where the clip has been posted across hundreds of pages."
The clip, named Legend, was created for the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) as part of its ongoing road safety campaign.
It features a young man "internalising a really complicated situation" as he ponders whether or not to tell his mate not to drive home.
Rather than using the graphic images and emotional blackmail of previous campaigns, the clip instead relies on comedy to get its message across.
In a measure of its success, the term "ghost chips" - featured during one section of the ad - has already become a joke on Facebook, where the clip has been posted across hundreds of pages."
Fergus The Horse:
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| https://www.facebook.com/FergusTheHorse/ |
"Fergus the Horse was first created by Jean Abernethy in 2000 and published in Horse Canada, Blaze Magazine, and Monty Roberts Join-Up Journal among other equestrian periodicals shortly thereafter; entertaining with humor, history, trivia, and teaching training methods. He was formed into a comic strip in 2004 which appeared weekly in the Ocala Star Banner pets page in Ocala, Florida. The situations Fergus encounters include a range of horse experience, in nature, in horsemanship, with his rider Shelby, and his stablemates of various breeds. His voice is both wise and innocent. Fergus is not a human in a horse suit doing human things, thinking human thoughts. He's all horse. That is why he's so effective at showing us how human we are."
The Idea Of Order:
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| http://theideaoforder.com |
Love Has No Labels:
 |
| http://lovehasnolabels.com |
"Even the most open-minded people have internalized the implicit bias of cultural stereotypes, whether or not they act on it consciously. To help expose this bias, we created an online video featuring a variety of couples interacting behind a large X-ray installation. As the skeletons kissed and danced, viewers mentally filled in the blanks. When unexpected pairs stepped out from behind the screen, the surprise gave viewers a simple demonstration of their implicit bias."
"Most Americans agree that people should be treated respectfully and fairly. Yet many people in the United States still report feeling discriminated against. For example, one in five LGBT people report feeling there is little or no acceptance of their community. Six in ten Latinos report that discrimination is a major problem and a majority of African Americans report that they are not satisfied with the way they are treated in society.
The reason might be that we're actually discriminating unintentionally--some call this implicit bias. Implicit bias influences how we treat people and how we interact with each other. More broadly, it can perpetuate disparities by impacting someone's ability to find a job, secure a loan, rent an apartment or get a fair trial. To end bias, we need to become aware of it. And then we need to do everything within our power to stop it in ourselves, others, and institutions.
The latest iteration of the award-winning Love Has No Labels campaign, “Fans of Love” puts a twist on the kiss cam by turning it into a symbol for unbiased love. As families, friends, and couples of different races, religions, genders, sexualities, ages and abilities appear on the jumbotron, fans cheer for love in all its forms."
The reason might be that we're actually discriminating unintentionally--some call this implicit bias. Implicit bias influences how we treat people and how we interact with each other. More broadly, it can perpetuate disparities by impacting someone's ability to find a job, secure a loan, rent an apartment or get a fair trial. To end bias, we need to become aware of it. And then we need to do everything within our power to stop it in ourselves, others, and institutions.
The latest iteration of the award-winning Love Has No Labels campaign, “Fans of Love” puts a twist on the kiss cam by turning it into a symbol for unbiased love. As families, friends, and couples of different races, religions, genders, sexualities, ages and abilities appear on the jumbotron, fans cheer for love in all its forms."
"The Ad Council launched the Love Has No Labelscampaign with a simple message – rethink the biases you didn't even know you had. Ultimately, we sought to promote acceptance and appreciation of all communities regardless of race, religion, gender, sexuality, age and ability by raising awareness for implicit biases. Since we were launching a brand new campaign, our main goal was to create awareness about the issue and the campaign. We drove video viewers to the campaign website, which features a quiz where you can examine your own biases and find resources on how to get involved."
"In addition to the online video, the integrated campaign included a website built on Tumblr featuring a quiz where visitors can examine their own biases and new social communities on Facebook and Twitter where audiences could find additional content on how to overcome those biases."
"To extend the campaign, we tapped into celebrities and social media influencers to help spread our messages. Additionally, campaign outreach incorporated activations around key times of year, including Mother's Day, Hispanic Heritage Month, Pride Month and Fourth of July. We activated the campaign at NYC Pride 2015, marching in the parade and setting up gif and video booths for people to share their #lovehasnolabels stories."
"Since the initial video debuted exclusively on Upworthy's Facebook page, it has been viewed over 160 million times making it the 2nd most viewed video of 2015. Additionally, it was the 2nd most viral video on Facebook, the 4th most viewed on YouTube and one of the best performing Upworthy videos of all time. It is the second most viewed social activism video ever behind Kony 2012."
"To date, there were more than 2.7 million visits to www.lovehasnolabels.com. The campaign also encourages audiences to use Faces of Love, a social tool on the campaign website, to upload a picture showing how their love has no labels. More than 1,000 personal stories have been shared in the social gallery of the website and the hashtag has been used over 30,000 times generating over 110 million potential impressions."
Thelwell:
"Thelwell is regarded as the unofficial artist of the British countryside and is possibly the most popular cartoonist in Britain, since the Second World War. He commented on many aspects of human behaviour, but he is perhaps most synonymous with little girls and their little fat ponies. They have helped to ensure his continuing popularity and his immortality."
http://www.thelwell.org.uk
"The artist, who died in 2004, drew Penelope and her mischievous pony Kipper in hundreds of humorous scenarios, including the destruction of country fairs."
"Quick now…what best describes a shaggy, short, naughty, can’t-be-caught, too smart for its own good pony? If you said, “A Thelwell Pony” you win first prize. Little did Norman Thelwell know that when he began to create his cartoon riders and ponies, the words “Thelwell pony” would eventually apply to his diminutive equine creations the world over."
"How did the man who got ponies, horses, dogs, elegant riders, plump pony mad children, tweedy bowler hatted riding instructors and rotund whiskered hunting Masters down to a “T” when he had only once been on a horse? The artist’s eye sees what many others do not and as a country resident, he recalled watching two chubby girls manage/try to catch and halter two equally chubby devious ponies in a field. It was a game of chase, cajole, and catch for them and inspiration for him. The “Thelwell pony” was created on paper and took on a life of its own for decades to come to the delight of millions who appreciated the equine antics even if they had never stepped inside a stable yard."
"However it was in 1953 that his pony cartoons enraptured and captured instantaneous response. He got fan mail begging for more and was asked by his editor to do a two page spread on ponies. Although he thought that the initial pony picture was the end of ponies, it was quite the opposite and the “Thelwell pony” was born. Little did he know what a wealth of subject matter there was to be found within the tiny naughty minds of shaggy ponies and the efforts of the pony mad girls who tried to ride and control them."
"For horse people and even non horse people, Thelwell’s cartoons never fail to bring a chuckle, and best of all you don’t need to know the difference between a hock and a hard hat to see the humour in his sketches."
https://www.horse-canada.com/horses-and-history/norman-thelwell/
Pencilworld (Toby Morris):
"Toby Morris is an Auckland based illustrator and comic artist. He is the creator of the Pencilsword and also half of the Toby and Toby duo behind the series 'That is the question' at radionz.co.nz."