An army of skeletons, dressed in business suits gave Sydney commuters a fright at some of the city’s busiest train stations this week. In the middle of the morning rush on Tuesday October 27, life-sized skeletons, led by the head skeleton and brand ambassador, Barry, dressed in suits and ties appeared at Town Hall, Wynyard and Central stations, and on a Sydney train. Each held a sign with a simple message, “Don’t Work Forever”.
There was no logo, no QR code and no call to action. Commuters were left to work it out for themselves, and that is exactly what they did. Phones came out, photos went up, and by lunchtime the skeletons had become one of Sydney’s most-shared mysteries.
Investment app, Pearler, later revealed itself as the brand behind the stunt, tying it to new research into how young Australians feel about retirement. It also introduced the internet to Barry, a skeleton in a suit who “worked forever” and is now the campaign’s cautionary tale.
The stunt created by its in-house studio underlined Pearler’s brand platform of wanting to help and encourage Aussies to find financial freedom through long-term investing. It was inspired by new research conducted with PureProfile that found more than a third (36%) of young Australians (Millennials and Gen Z) doubt they’ll ever be able to retire, and nearly half (48%) expect a worse retirement than their parents had. The gap is even wider for women: 43% doubt they’ll ever retire, compared with 30% of men.
It was picked up by leading meme and social pages including Australian Daily Official, Complex Australia, So Sydney, r/SydneyScene and r/fiaustralia. It has also been covered by leading news sites, Yahoo Finance, News.com.au and Savings.com.au. One bystander’s video has racked up more than 3 million views on Instagram on its own. There was no paid budget used and the campaign relied entirely on earned media and social share of voice.
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