Glenn came across a very catchy Australian PSA this week that has gone viral all over the internet. The only thing is…until the ad gets to the very end, you have no idea what in the world the message is for.
Here are the lyrics:
"Set fire to your hair. Poke a stick at a grizzly bear. Eat medicine that's out of date. Use your private parts as piranha bait.Dumb ways to die. So many dumb ways to die. Dumb ways to die. So many dumb ways to die.
Get your toast with a fork. Do your own electrical work. Teach yourself how to fly. Eat a two‑week‑old unrefrigerated pie."
"Any takers yet?" Glenn asked Pat and Stu.
They had a couple of guesses: a funeral home, seat belts, but none of them correct. And the ad continues.
"So many dumb ways to die. Dumb ways to die, so many dumb ways to die.A psycho killer in sight. Scratch a drug dealer's brand new ride. Use your clothes dryer at a hiding place.
Dumb ways to die, so many dumb ways to die. Dumb ways to die, so many dumb ways to die.
Keep your rattlesnake as a pet. Sell both your kidneys on the Internet. Eat super glue. I wonder, what's this red button do?
Dumb ways to die, so many dumb ways to die. Dumb ways to die, so many dumb ways to die.
So many dumb ways to die. Dress up like a moose during hunting season. Stir a nest of wasps for no good reason. Stand on the edge of a train station platform at a level crossing. Run across the tracks.
Dumb ways to die, so many dumb ways to die. Dumb ways to die, so many dumb ways to die."
"Here it comes…" Glenn interjected.
"Be safe around trains. A message from Metro."
You can watch the full PSA here:
Glenn explained that the video has gone so viral that it was number two or three on YouTube the other day and it's even for sale on iTunes.
So the question Glenn, Pat and Stu have is: How many people have to die to get a three minute PSA ad in Australia?
Thinking that in 2012, surely trains are a serious threat to the human, Stu went searching for the stats. What he found was actually surprising.
Australia's numbers were actually smaller than most that he found, at only 50 people a year. So it's safe to say a three-minutes PSA is just a little over the top.
In the USA, Stu found a shocking 400-600 people being killed per year.
However that's nothing to the number he found in India. Australia may actually want to let India borrow this little jingle, because they have an alarming 15,000 people per year killed by trains, where there is over 40,000 miles of railway track. 6,000 of those are in Mumbai alone — that's about 16 per day.
Glenn had a few solutions, like a switching station. His best option was this: stop letting people think trains are the world's solution to the environment and use trucks, cars and bridges.
"We've got to worry about that. There's certainly no other problems on this Earth to take care of first. Let's worry about the 0.7 degree temperature rise when 15,000 people a year are dying by trains in one country," Stu sarcastically said.
If you go back and listen to the jingle one more time, it's actually hard to believe that more people die from trains than some of the things listed in this song.
As Glenn and Pat jokingly pointed out, he's gotten his toast out using a fork before and tried to do his own electrical work. Although, he definitely hasn't done quite a few things on this list.
Long story short: Have a lovely Thanksgiving AND be safe around trains.