Gaston Soto: "The best way to 'deal with it' is by asking for help."
Creative agency BBH Singapore, in the lead up to International Men’s Day on November 19, released a campaign that aims to normalise the idea of seeking professional help for men facing mental health challenges.
The campaign was launched in partnership with Calm Collective, an organisation on a mission to break the stigma and to normalise mental health conversations in Asia, as well as Freeflow Productions, an award-winning film production house based in Singapore.
Using the tagline “Deal With It”, the campaign is led by a film and supported by social media and PR activation. The creative idea was born out of the insight that outdated societal pressures in Singapore expect men to be “emotionally strong” forcing them to internalise their mental health struggles.
The creative revolves around questioning the effectiveness of self-talk/self-therapy. The film features a young man as he engages in conversation with his therapist behind the camera. But as the dialogue continues, audiences begin to realise the reality of his situation - that it was all just his self-talk.
Gaston Soto, group creative director, BBH Singapore said: “There’s a lot of stigma around acknowledging mental health issues. Research shows that this habit of brushing off symptoms is even more evident in men who have been indoctrinated by a patriarchal society to deal with everything “like a man”.
"This thought-provoking film aims to shed light on this issue, suggesting that the best way to “deal with it” is by asking for help. And when better than International Men’s Day to talk about this. This project means a lot to me and I’m very thankful for our partnership with Calm Collective to make a little difference in Singapore society."
Sabrina Ooi, founder of Calm Collective, said: “Calm Collective was founded in response to losing two dear male friends to suicide. This jolted us to break the stigma and to normalise mental health conversations in Asia, and amongst men. The survey findings were especially interesting for us, though not surprising.
"We are culturally and socially conditioned to place unrealistic expectations on men. For instance, men are told from a young age that “boys don’t cry” and being emotional only makes them look weak."
The campaign will be launched across digital platforms today.
Credits:
Agency: BBH Singapore
Chief Creative Officer: Sascha Kuntze
Group Creative Director: Gaston Soto
Associate Creative Director: Adeline Siow
Associate Creative Director: Kenneth Foo
Art Director: Sixin Wu
Copywriter: Enkainia Lee
Business Director: Manavi Sharma
Senior Account Executive: Angel Fadila
Strategy Director: Amanda Lim
Senior Strategist: Felicia Ong
Strategist: Cheryl Koh
Junior Strategist: Maureen Alam
Junior Social Specialist: Kristal Lee
Production Partner: Freeflow Productions
Director: Roslee Yusof
Executive Producer: Jill Soong
Audio Production Partner: Fuse Adventures in Audio
