A gruesome Melbourne Metro Trains safety advertisement, which uses catchy music to make a serious point, has gone viral online.
Just four days after being uploaded on YouTube the video called Dumb Ways to Die has had nearly 8 million views, clearly reaching beyond its intended audience - Melbourne has a population just short of 5 million people.
The three minute clip, which features a cast of cute animated characters dying in various ways, is designed to demonstrate the risks of ignoring the signal at a pedestrian level crossing and messing around on train tracks.
The ad says: "Keep a rattlesnake as a pet...sell both your kidneys on the internet... eat a tube of superglue...I wonder whats this red button do? Dumb ways to die ... so many dumb ways to die.''
The song's catchy chorus "dumb ways to die...dumb ways to die-ie-ie" could have one of the most arresting hooks since PSY's Gangnam Style, which has reached over 800 million views on YouTube.
One user commented on the YouTube clip: "This song is so adorable."
Another said: "I almost killed myself laughing."
Most of the feedback on YouTube was positive, but one user said the video would "give a kid nightmares", and another said it was "lame".
The song is performed by Melbourne artist Tangerine Kitty, and was produced by Cat Empire keyboards player Ollie McGill, the Herald Sun reported.
The song can be purchased on Apple iTunes and soundcloud.com. Within 24 hours it was in Australia's top 10 list on iTunes.