The latest installment of the national “Seize the Awkward” campaign from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and The Jed Foundation in collaboration with the Ad Council includes this “We Can Talk About It” PSA designed to inspire young adults (16-24) to start conversations around mental health with friends.
The public service work, including this :60, recognize the need for culturally relevant content and resources for Black and Hispanic/Latine young adults. Developed pro bono by agency Droga5, the PSAs reflect the lived experiences of a diverse range of young people. Inspired by the insight that young people are surrounded by harmful messages around mental health, “We Can Talk About It” encourages them to break through the stigma and reach out to friends who may be struggling. The campaign aims to equip all young adults with accessible and relatable information to help talk about mental health with friends and directs audiences to SeizeTheAwkward.org for more resources.
Haya Waseem of production company Object & Animal directed the public service fare.
“For the last five years, Droga5 has been leading the creative development of the Seize the Awkward campaign. This time we focused on Black and Hispanic/Latine youth who often face even more pressure when it comes to mental health,” said Kevin Brady, executive creative director, Droga5. “Our film took a frank look at how the pressures of racism, masculinity and toxic positivity can affect mental health and let all youth know that the first step is reaching out to a friend to talk about how they’re feeling.”
Credits
Client Ad Council, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, The Jed Foundation Agency Droga5 Scott Bell, co-chief creative officer; Kevin Brady, executive creative director; Nate Scott, executive design director; Pepe Funegra, creative director; Joseph Russomano, sr. art director; Temnete Sebhatu, sr. copywriter; Sally-Ann Dale, chief creation officer; Ruben Mercadal, Jesse Brihn, co-heads of film and content production; Jeremy Fox, executive producer; Charlotte Stirrup, Patrick Wood, sr. producers, film; Mike Ladman, sr. music supervisor; Mara Techam, jr. music supervisor; Shannon Choi, jr. designer; Graham Jones, strategy director; Molly Klein, sr. communications strategist; Sam Williams, jr. communications strategist. Production Object & Animal Haya Waseem, director; Christopher Lew, DP; Justin Benoliel, exec producer; Jennifer Brooks, producer. Editorial Cabin NY Dylan Edwards, editor; Dominique Machain, assistant editor; Maggie Meade, managing partner; Adam Becht, exec producer; Mariana Terenzio, sr. producer. Post/VFX The Mill TJ Sponzo, exec producer; Katharine Mulderry, producer; Brian O’Donnell, Jesse Newman, designers; Asaf Yeger, 2D lead; Jose Aruaz, 2D assist; Matt McDonald, David Forcada, Kayako Ono, finish. Color Electric Theatre Collective Luke Morrison, colorist; Olivia Jessop, color producer. Music Found Objects Jay Wadley, Trevor Gureckis, ECDs/co-founders; Ben Marshall, creative director; Adam Weiss, composer; Jennie Armon, exec producer; Elijah Torn, head of creative production; Katt Matt, lead producer; Nick Chomowicz, Agatha Lee, producers; Lee Cash Chisholm, music coordinator. Sound Design Wave NY Aaron Reynolds, Isaac Matus, sound design & mix; Vicky Ferraro, exec producer. Additional Animation Droga5 Studios Pravin Chottera, design director; Victor Hermosillo, editor/animator; Sheldon Smith, post producer.
FactSet, a global financial digital platform and enterprise solutions provider, has partnered with Chicago-based creative agency VSA Partners to unveil a second round of spots in its “Not Just the Facts” campaign. The campaign originally launched back in April.
The campaign was built on a core strategic insight: While quality data is critical for financial professionals, facts in isolation provide little value. FactSet’s personalization, data connectivity, open and flexible technology, and dedicated service and support provide the context necessary for the investment community to turn facts into valuable insights--and make the most of them.
The new creative picks up where the previous left off. This time it focuses on a particularly boorish office worker, drolly played by character actor Wyndham Maxwell, who ticks off an encyclopedic list of facts and non sequiturs during business meetings and to the bemusement of his colleagues.
The tongue-in-cheek campaign, which plays more like a perfect-pitch comedy series than a typical B2B commercial effort, is a major departure from financial services industry norm--both in its use of humor and in its humanistic approach. Starting this week, FactSet will roll out 16 unique spots—a combination of :30s, :15s, :06s and nine “shorts”—across multiple channels including digital, streaming and CTV.
This :30, “Dinos,” has an office worker’s relevant reference to dinosaurs spark our boorish colleague who proceeds to utter one irrelevant fact after another about the prehistoric creatures.
The Los Angeles–based Docter Twins (Matthew and Jason Docter) directed the original campaign and this new humorous work through their production company, Thinking Machine. The identical twin... Read More
