This video went up on Youtube last week and has reached 17 million views (so far). Yes, it has gone viral. So why would a Melbourne Metro safety announcement do that? First, it is done with some cute graphics (which are also rather, er, graphic), secondly, it uses black humour to get the message across, and thirdly, it has a very catchy tune. Lot's of clips go on Youtube that have one or more of these elements, but this one rises above them because of the perfect integration of the message, the pictures, and the music. The prosody between the music and the lyric is inverted, which works well as an attention-getter. This is further reinforced in the cartoon characters who keep happily singing along, even after they have been hacked to pieces.
The song is performed by Melbourne duo "Tangerine Kitty". Tangerine Kitty is Ollie McGill from The Cat Empire and Emily Lubitz of Tinpan Orange.
The illustrations are done by Julian Frost (who is one half of Barrel of Donkeys)
http://blog.barrelofdonkeys.com/aboutus
The illustrations are done by Julian Frost (who is one half of Barrel of Donkeys)
http://blog.barrelofdonkeys.com/aboutus