$1.$ How does the $$Dumb Ways to Die$$ ad differ from other PSAs? $2.$ How did McCann Melbourne demonstrate that it had an excellent understanding of the platform? $3.$ What takeaways can be made about $\backslash$ advertising, based on this example? Metro Trains Reinvents the PSA However, not all PSAs are cut from the same cloth. When McCann Melbourne was asked to create one for rail safety by Metro Trains, the agency went for entertaining, creative, and cute, rather than morbid and depressing. This decision was not simply based on a desire to amuse the public. It was a carefully thought$-$out strategy, engineered to promote sharability and virality and spawn parodies and tributes. $\backslash (\{\}^\{21\}\backslash )$ The result was "Dumb Ways to Die". The video became an Internet phenomenon by: $-$ Creating cute and likeable characters $-$ Making the video inclusive $($The characters don't have a particular gender, age, cultural background, or ethnicity; the animals aren't kangaroos and koalas, they're creatures that would be familiar to people worldwide$)-$ Structuring the video so that YouTube viewers could break it up into smaller segments and share them, rather than the entire three$-$minute ad $-$ Including a catchy song and launching it on various music sharing platforms $-$ Putting the video on other channels, as well as a karaoke version $-$ Introducing a video game app based on the ad$,$ once the video's virality waned$22$ The Aftermath of "Dumb Ways to Die" To say the ad campaign was a success is an understatement. As of October $2016,$ the original ad has received more than $140$ million views on YouTube. $\backslash (\{\}^\{23\}\backslash )$ It has received tens of millions of impressions, and in one month the campaign reached $\backslash (46\backslash \%\backslash )$ of its target audience. Subsequent videos have been made, including parodies. The ad's song "charted on iTunes in $28$ countries and sold more than $100,000$ copies...$\backslash (^\{\mathrm{.}24\}\backslash )$ In the ad's extended poster campaign at train stations, over a million people pledged to be safer around trains, and there was a significant reduction in train accidents after the campaign's run.. $\backslash (\{\}^\{25\}\backslash )$