Most Shared Ads of June 2013: ‘Dumb Ways To Die’ Given New Life By Cannes Success

A record-breaking haul at Cannes Lions 2013 has breathed new life into Melbourne Metro’s brilliant public safety campaign, Dumb Ways To Die.

The ad, created by McCann Melbourne, last month swept all before it, winning five grand prix awards to become the most successful ad campaign in the history of the International Festival of Creativity.

But that was not the only success it enjoyed last month. No doubt fuelled by its historic achievements in Cannes, the video, which uses cute cartoon characters and some pretty gruesome demises to promote safety around trains, has enjoyed an Unruly Viral Video Chart resurrection that even Lazarus would be proud of.

The video may have been launched way back in November last year, but it made a welcome return to the Unruly Global Ads Chart during June after attracting more than 270,573 shares across the social web last month.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to claim one of the top three spots, but for a seven-month old video to attract that many shares is an incredible accomplishment. It even attracted more shares than Dove’s recent mammoth hit Real Beauty Sketches last month, but still has a gap of almost 300,000 to close to overtake the Unilever campaign to get back into the top three ads of all time.

However, one thing is for certain: Dumb Ways takes safety messages to a new level, using hilarious and adorable cartoon blobs, plus an earworm of a song, to help make the grim warning a little easier to swallow.

However, while Dumb Ways led the way in Cannes, a very different campaign was the clear frontrunner during June – GEICO’s Happier Than A Camel on Wednesday.

The US insurance firm is no stranger to the Unruly Viral Video Chart. Camel is GEICO’s second entry onto the top 100 following the huge success of Piggy, and at its current sharing rate it could well overtake the 2010 campaign to make it on to the top 30.

It attracted 878,231 shares last month, 120,000 more than June runner-up Sony, whose wildly popular in-house spot took a direct aim at Microsoft’s new game-sharing policies, playfully capitalizing on their rivalry to the tune of 755,833 shares.

While Sony courted controversy at the number two spot, Cheerios stumbled into it. An otherwise adorable and breezy ad, Just Checking, was subjected to an ugly torrent of abuse on the social web due to its depiction of a bi-racial couple. With Cheerios eventually forced to block YouTube comments, the ensuing scandal saw the spot shared 178,277 times, making it the 10th most shared ad of the month.

Efforts from Adobe, Swisscom and drink-driving campaign THINK! explored a rapidly evolving genre: the ‘prankvert’. These docu-ads mix unsuspecting citizens with crazy situations, like Adobe’s impromptu ‘PhotoShopping’ of bemused bus patrons which took the number three spot this month.

Meanwhile THINK!’s #PubLooShocker garnered attention for its petrifying public awareness ad. Combining shocking special effects with stunned reactions, the Leo Burnett-produced spot has been knocking people out of desk chairs all month. How much is a good scare worth? 229,231 shares, apparently.

A lucky few Samsung users will be the first to hear Jay-Z’s latest Magna Carta Holy Grail, thanks to a $20 million deal struck with the hip-hop impresario. But the tech giant also gave the whole world a peek into the rapper’s process with this slick album teaser.

The genius of this spot is that it somehow turned behind-the-scenes footage into a massive media event. With 258,730 shares during June, putting it in sixth place, Samsung’s partnership has clearly hit the celebrity sweet-spot.

Sports fans and YouTube denizens alike cheered on cyclist Danny MacAskill’s dazzling follow-up collaboration with Red Bull. Titled Imaginate, the lengthy spot celebrates athletic prowess and childish whimsy in equal measure, setting the Scotsman against what looks like Willy Wonka’s obstacle course.

In fact, Red Bull snuck two ads into Unruly’s Viral Video Chart this month, with their equally mad-cap and completely self-explanatory Gee Atherton Gets Hunted By A Falcon. Combined, these two spots have been shared over 300,000 times.

Other ads to appear in the top 20 include Coca-Cola’s innovative Sharing Can, Huggies giving dads a taste of pregnancy, and some teasing gameplay for the highly-anticipated EA release Battlefield 4.

Top 20 ads – June 2013

1. GEICO – Happier Than A Camel On Wednesday

Shares: 878,231

2. Sony: Official Playstation Used Game Instructional Video

Shares: 755,833

3. Adobe: Street Touch Prank

Shares: 636,300

4. Melbourne Metro: Dumb Ways To Die

Shares: 270,573

5. Red Bull: Danny MacAskill Imaginate

Shares: 265,736

6. Samsung: Magna Carta Holy Grail