Dumb ways to... kill your phone. Sony in Hong Kong has kicked off an animated ad that bears a striking resemblance to that other campaign. It touts the water-resistant features of a new handset.
The online series, called 'Water is My Friend', advertises Sony's waterproof Xperia mobile phone. It tells the story of an animated raindrop who keeps accidentally killing phones by splashing water onto them - with two blobs, er, coincidentally shaped like models from Apple and Samsung.
He's then exiled from his community of blobs, devastated by his murderous rampage. But then, as fate would have it, he runs into the Sony Xperia, who claims water is his friend! Who'd have thought that's how it would turn out?!
The two become BFFs 4EVA, with the raindrop introduced to the whole Xperia family, showcased through a number of additional online videos.
As well as featuring blobs dying in arguably dumb ways, the campaign is also backed by a folksy song. Immitation, flattery, sincerity etc.
McCann's John Mescall, who created the orignial ad, isn't precious. He told AdNews: "When something becomes embedded in popular culture, as Dumb Ways to Die has, it's inevitable that others will reference it, so I'm not at all surprised to see this kind of work appear.
"Having said that, we're certainly not the first to use animation and a song to great effect, and we won't be the last."
While McCann's version has tens of millions of Youtube hits, Sony's effort so far has racked up 14,000.
So what's your verdict? Rate it or hate it? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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