You haven't seen the last of the blood-gushing, maimed cuties from Dumb Ways to Die. In fact, you'll be seeing a lot more of the stars of last year's most celebrated campaign now that Melbourne Metro has launched its new line of plush toys.
The adorable piranha and rattlesnake victims, hair-on-fire guy, clueless commuters and more will hit store shelves first quarter of this year. Some of the cuddly characters will be small enough to fit in your pocket, while others will dwarf the average teddy bear at more than 30 inches in height. The toys will retail from $5.99 to $99.00.
Metro General Manager-Corporate Relations Leah Waymark said the idea was an afterthought, borne naturally from consumers' -- and merchandisers' -- reactions to the rail safety campaign. "We never set out for this to be a goal and it certainly didn't factor into anything around determining the creative," she said. "But countless people asked, 'Where can I get the t-shirt?' We had a lot of people who produce items approach us, from t-shirt makers to toy makers, to people who wanted to produce TV shows. But we narrowed it to what we thought would be most important, and that's the brand integrity. This was not about finding another revenue stream. Finding a way to engage with people in different ways and keep the conversation alive was foremost."
The cuddly critters are not the end of the road. Metro is working with McCann Melbourne on developing more content and seeking developers for the next version of its mobile game. "Obviously, if you go down the licensing road, you'll need more content to support it," said Ms. Waymark. "We just see this as a way of keeping DWTD alive."
