It started life as the Provincial Lunatic Asylum in 1850, but a new campaign from Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) shows that while there has been significant progress in the perception, diagnosis and treatment of mental illness in the intervening 162 years, there is still significant stigma and a lack of understanding about mental illness.
The integrated campaign by DentsuBos is intended to get people to re-evaluate their outlook on mental illness and to provide the public with a better understanding of CAMH’s programs, its facilities and its vision for treating mental health issues.
“I think a lot of people don’t listen closely enough,” said DentsuBos creative director Gary Watson of the stigma surrounding mental health issues. “We’re just getting to the point where we’re starting to be more open about this kind of thing. But for the most part there’s this huge legacy of ‘Get over it.’ We’re taking a lot of that phraseology and making it the core of the campaign.”
The campaign, which officially breaks Monday after a month-long teaser campaign, includes subway domination, transit advertising, wild postings, newspaper, online, radio and cinema. There will also be an increase in social media activity for CAMH, said Watson.
It is the Toronto agency’s first work for CAMH since it won the account last fall. (Montreal and Toronto agency BOS won the account, and was acquired by Dentsu last week. It now operates as DentsuBos.)
A 30-second cinema spot, “Defeat Denial,” is shot in first-person perspective, with people talking to the camera and uttering phrases like “You’re imagining things” and “What you really need is a girl’s night out.”
The phrases keep repeating until it becomes a cacophony of voices – all recorded in 5.1 surround to add to the intensity – downplaying the significance of the afflicted person’s condition. The screen then abruptly goes black and a super that reads “Is it any wonder why 2 out of 3 people living with mental illness suffer in silence?” appears on screen, followed by a super that features the campaign tag, “Defeat denial. Defeat mental illness,” followed by the CAMH logo.
A series of print ads in publications including Metro and Toronto Life showcase the work being done by CAMH to better understand and treat mental illness, while Monday’s Toronto Star also features a special editorial supplement dedicated to mental health.
The campaign launched with a teaser campaign featuring colourful posters bearing phrases like “Don’t worry. It’s just a phase” and “You just need a change of scenery,” but no brand identification.
The campaign coincides with this month’s opening of CAMH’s new facility on Queen Street West, a new space that integrates care facilities with new rental apartments, sidewalk patios and green spaces.
