The archive · Content & Film · Marketing decision · 2023–2024
Opera House's 50th birthday anthem 'Play It Safe' wins Cannes Film Grand Prix
Tim Minchin wrote an ironic anthem telling Australia to 'play it safe' — a star-packed film that reached 1.8B people and won the 2024 Cannes Film Grand Prix.
Sydney Opera House
What it had to solve
For the Opera House's 50th anniversary, The Monkeys (Accenture Song) had to reframe a landmark seen as exclusive and elite as bold and welcoming — at a moment when Australia's creative culture felt cautious. They invited Tim Minchin to write an original song.
How it works
To mark the Sydney Opera House's 50th anniversary, The Monkeys (part of Accenture Song) created 'Play It Safe', an original music video starring Tim Minchin and dozens of Australia's leading artists. The film treats the landmark itself as the subject: its architecture, its history and the defiant spirit behind it.
Minchin wrote and composed the song as an ironic salute — a cheerful anthem instructing listeners to play it safe, which in practice celebrates everyone who refused to. Kim Gehrig directed; the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, The Australian Ballet, Jimmy Barnes, Courtney Act and William Barton were among the performers on the building's stages, steps and sails, intercut with archival footage of its construction.
Released on 18 October 2023, the film travelled the world: it generated 1.8 billion impressions and 662 media stories, and 73% of Australians with no prior connection to the House reported a more favourable view after seeing it, with 49% intending to visit. At Cannes Lions 2024 it won the Film Grand Prix; it also took a Grand Clio and One Show's Best of Branded Entertainment.
Why it lands
- An original song, not a corporate film, let the building's own artists tell its story — the cast made the message credible.
- The ironic title inverted the anniversary brief: telling people to 'play it safe' while celebrating risk made the point through the work itself.
- Launching the anthem as a music video on YouTube and Spotify met audiences on entertainment platforms, where it could travel as content rather than advertising.
- Tourism Australia joined the push, so one film served culture, national identity and travel marketing at once.
What it did
Reached 1.8 billion people through 662 media stories; 73% of people with no prior connection to the Opera House reported a more favourable opinion after seeing it, and 49% intended to visit. Won the 2024 Cannes Film Grand Prix, a Grand Clio, and One Show Best of Branded Entertainment.
What you can take
Turn a milestone into a creative medium: an original anthem and defiant message made a 50th birthday reach 1.8B people — irony and star power beat reverence.
Since then
The film became the centrepiece of the Opera House's anniversary year and its most awarded campaign. The song lives on Spotify and the film on the Opera House's own stream; advertising educators now cite the campaign as proof that a cultural institution can generate global attention with a single brave idea — and that an anniversary brief can be answered with art, not heritage nostalgia.
Sources
- Play It Safe — Celebrating 50 years of brave creativity at Sydney Opera House
- Sydney Opera House launches new film to celebrate 50 years of bravery and creativity
- Final Lion winners announced at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity
- Global Ads Spotlight: How the Sydney Opera House's 50th anniversary campaign broke new ground
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