The campaign was devised by advertising agency McCann Melbourne. It appeared in newspapers, local radio, outdoor advertising, throughout the Metro Trains network and on Tumblr.
John Mescall, executive creative director of McCann, said “The aim of this campaign is to engage an audience that really doesn’t want to hear any kind of safety message, and we think Dumb Ways To Die will.” McCann estimated that within two weeks it had generated at least $50 million worth of global media value in addition to more than 700 media stories, for “a fraction of the cost of one TV ad”.