McCann Erickson Melbourne's "Dumb Ways To Die" Is Most Awarded Ad Campaign In Cannes Festival's 60-Year History; Wins A Record 5 Grand Prix Lions

NEW YORK, June 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- "Dumb Ways To Die," the irresistible pop-culture phenomenon from McCann Erickson Australia for Metro Trains Melbourne, on Saturday became the most awarded campaign in the 60-year history of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (formerly known as the Cannes International Advertising Festival). "Dumb Ways To Die" won five Grand Prix Lions, the highest honor awarded at the festival, as well as 18 Gold Lions, 3 Silver Lions and 2 Bronze Lions.

The campaign, designed to keep Melbourne citizens from getting hurt in and around Metro train service areas, became a viral video sensation, with more than 50 million views on YouTube alone, thanks to its catchy theme song, darkly amusing animation and playful lyrics.

John Mescall, Executive Creative Director of McCann Australia, said: "It was clear we were in for a great week after winning 11 Lions on the first night, but this is incredible. This goes to show what you can do with a great client and a good amount of hard work and dedication within an agency. I'm very proud of everyone on the team here."

With McCann Melbourne dominating the Festival, McCann Worldgroup won 66 Lions in total at the 2013 awards show, the most in the advertising network's history.

McCann Erickson offices in Mumbai, Milan, Spain, Oslo and Bucharest all won multiple Lions. McCann offices in Finland, Singapore, Manila and Stockholm each won a Lion.

McCann Worldgroup agencies The Martin Agency and Weber Shandwick each won multiple Lions across several different Cannes Lions categories and Universal McCann also won a Lion.

Harris Diamond, Chairman and CEO of McCann Worldgroup, said, "This is a terrific achievement for the entire McCann network, highlighted by the tremendous success of our Melbourne office. The recognition by our industry peers across categories from digital to integrated, film to design, direct to PR is a testament to the great work all of our staff has been doing around the world."

Additionally, last week The Effie Awards, the pre-eminent industry award that measures effectiveness in marketing communications, ranked McCann Worldgroup as the third most effective ad agency network in the world in its Global Effie Index, a sharp move up from McCann Worldgroup's fifth-place ranking in 2012.

McCann Worldgroup, part of Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG), is a leading global marketing company with 23,000 employees in more than 120 countries comprising McCann Erickson (advertising), MRM (digital marketing/relationship management), Momentum (event marketing/promotion), McCann Health (professional/dtc communications), CRAFT (global adaptation and production), UM (media management), Weber Shandwick (public relations), and FutureBrand (consulting/design).

SOURCE McCann Worldgroup