The spectacular success of Metro Trains campaign Dumb Ways to Die is being recognized with the Advertiser of the Year Award at this year’s Spikes Asia festival.

McCann Melbourne’s brilliant three-minute music clip catapulted the brand to international fame, despite its operations being limited to Victoria, going viral and garnering more than 50m YouTube hits, and claiming 28 Cannes Lions, including five Grand Prix and the Integrated award.

Spikes is run by EMap, which also runs Cannes Lions. The campaign has won accolades and plaudits from advertising luminaries across the globe, with Sir John Hegarty saying at Cannes: “I always try to get work to become part of the social fabric of the place I’m in. Dumb Ways to Die Does that, you can’t deny the brilliance of the piece.”

Leah Waymark, general manager corporate relations at Metro Melbourne said: “What a great honour. The past year has been an incredible journey for Metro and the evolution of our brand.

“As our operational performance has improved, we have increasingly been able to be more creative and make light of what are usually pretty dull topics. Out task now is to keep the conversation about train safety alive so we can change behaviours among our next generation of customers.”

Terry Savage, chairman of Lions Festivals, added: “It is remarkable what Metro and its agency have achieved with the “Dumb Ways to Die” campaign. This is the best use of creative communications that we have seen recently.

“Not only has it captured the imagination and engaged the public through multimedia platforms – radio, outdoor, gaming, social media, etc. – but it has also been effective in achieving a change in people’s behavior."

“This is exactly what this award represents, as such we are proud to present the Spikes 2013 Advertiser of the Year to Metro.

The award will be handed to the brand next Tuesday, during the festival.