An Australian Metro campaign aimed at getting people to be safer around trains was the big winner at the Cannes Lions 2013, the International Festival of Creativity.

The Cannes Lions is the world's biggest celebration of creativity in communications. As the most prestigious international creative communications awards, more than 34,000 entries from all over the world are showcased and judged at the Festival, held during the third week of June in Cannes, France, every year. Winners receive the highly-coveted Lion trophy, presented at four award ceremonies throughout the week.

The winning PR campaign of this year’s edition is based on a viral video that shows several ridiculous ways to die, such as poking a stick at a grizzly bear, selling both the kidneys on the internet or using your private parts as piranha bait. It also mentions standing on the edge of a train station platform, driving around the boom gates at a level crossing and running across the tracks between the platforms, all animated by colourful characters singing a very catchy song. You can listen to the song and see the whole campaign at dumbwaystodie.com. The campaign includes a book, interactive posters, a smartphone game and radio advertising among others.

The aim of the campaign was to raise awareness of the dangers of being around trains in the 13 to 25 age group and reduce accidents in key areas. The video was a great success, shared by over 3 million people on Facebook and played over 50 million times on YouTube. It has become the 3rd most viral ad of all time. Also, the transport company’s objectives were exceeded.

12 UK agencies were shortlisted this year in the PR Lions award. These are some of the campaigns ‘made in the UK’ that could have also bagged the prize this year:

Toastie knife: Created by Clarion Communications for Warburtons.

A knife to effortlessly spread out-of-the-fridge butter, thanks to an in-built mechanism that heats the blade. It was developed following a survey that identified the spreading problem as one of the top five frustrations at breakfast – along with burnt toast and cold tea.

The launch of shwopping: Created by Unity for Marks & Spencer.

A campaign aimed at putting a new value on old clothes by giving them to Oxfam. Customers were encouraged to donate a piece of clothing every time they bought a new one. Some of the donations were then used to line a London street, which generated plenty of media attention.

Putting Sea Containers on the map: Created by Golden Goose PR for The Deerbrook Group.

Aimed at gaining public attention for Sea Containers, a 70s office building on London's South Bank, as the property is redeveloped into a luxury hotel and offices.  The campaign consisted of using the most recognisable Silver Jubilee balcony image originally featured in the Daily Telegraph to cover the face of the building whilst construction work happened behind it.