On Bell Let’s Talk Day, the telco is taking things in a bit of different direction, with a more lighthearted approach to very serious subject matter.
In this year’s Let’s Talk “countable” video – for which Bell will donate five cents for every view it earns across platforms – crooner Michael Bublé does a bunch of mundane household tasks. He deadpans about how “watching me vacuum, supports mental health” and “watching me water this plant, supports mental health” before taking to the ice and a golf course, missing an easy putt.
Back home on his sofa, the singer then chokes up as he thanks viewers for watching and for their financial support.
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A similar video in French for the Quebec market features comedian Maxim Martin (seen below).
Nicolas Dion, partner and creative director at Lg2, which developed the campaign, says the global pandemic has challenged the mental health of many Canadians, so it was critical that latest campaign reflected the new reality. This year’s broader Let’s Talk campaign aimed to show all the increasingly relatable ways mental health has been brought to the forefront in the last year, on top of the need to support those who were already struggling with mental health prior to pandemic.
As it has typically been, that campaign struck a more serious tone, but now that Let’s Talk Day is here, Dion says the aim with the new videos is to put a smile on viewers’ faces and warm their hearts, providing a bit of relief.
Research from the Canadian Mental Health Association and University of British Columbia released in December showed that 40% of Canadians report that their mental health has deteriorated since March. There are even more pronounced declines for younger people, the unemployed, people with pre-existing conditions, Indigenous and LGBTQ2+ communities, and people with disabilities. Also, in the fall, employee mental health returned to crisis levels not seen since the early days of the pandemic.
As in previous years, Bell will be donating five cents to Canadian mental health initiatives every time these videos are viewed across Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. New supplemental OOH was also added to the campaign today, letting Canadians know that today is Let’s Talk Day, alongside this year’s tagline, “now more than ever, every action counts.” Media Experts is handling the media buy.
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In response to the uptick in mental health challenges in 2020, Bell provided $5 million in new funding to five mental health charities when the pandemic first hit in early 2020. Since Let’s Talk launched 11 years ago, Bell says it’s raised approximately $113.5 million dollars and supported 775 community fund grants.
