McCann’s ‘Dumb Ways to Die’ for Metro Trains wins top prize at last night’s ACES held in Sydney

It’s been another hugely successful night for McCann Melbourne who has collected another award for its Metro Trains campaign Dumb Ways To Die, taking out the ACE of Excellence at the Australian Creative Excellence Showcase (ACES), held earlier tonight by Val Morgan in Sydney.

Says Andrea Sophocleous, communications director of McCann: “Metro Trains were brave clients who were open to our out of the box thinking and were excited to work with us to create a big idea that we knew would get cut through.”

The ACES attracted a particularly high caliber of entries. The top 3 ACES finalists included DDB’s Reward Saver – Wedding campaign for client Westpac, Clemenger BBDO’s Time To See Australia campaign for client Great Southern Rail and McCann Melbourne’s winning entry for Metro Trains campaign Dumb Ways To Die.

Says Rob Belgiovane, ACES jury chairman and BWM’s executive creative director: “It was great to see so many more people enter the ACES. But while most entries were of a very high standard, Dumb Ways To Die was clearly well ahead of the pack. So often “safety” messages are based on graphic footage of bad accidents, so a sweet song with child like animation is such a fresh approach for a serious issue that it was impossible to ignore. Congratulations to all the finalists.”

The ongoing support from creative agencies has made the ACES a distinguished platform that recognises and rewards the exceptional creative work that is being produced in Australia.

Says Damian Keogh, Val Morgan CEO: “The ACES have gone from strength to strength and this event has certainly been our most successful with brilliant creative entered from a number of high profile brands.

The unique thing about the ACES is that those that haven’t had their creative played in cinema get to see it on the best screen possible – the cinema screen.”

McCann Melbourne walks away with a trophy and a Val Morgan cinema campaign to the value of $25,000.

(Pictured: Malina Fontaine, Rob Belgiovane, Andrea Sophocleous and Damian Keogh)