Relief starts with a talk

Catherine Lubitskaya, Project Manager, plusone social impact Maksym Zoloyedov, Creative director, plusone social impact Nadiia Rokytianska, Creative Director, plusone social impact Vladislava Belau, Strategist, plusone social impact Vladyslav Voznyi, Creative Copywriter, plusone social impact Veronika Oliynyk, Art Director, plusone social impact Stanislava Brylenko, UI/UX Designer, plusone social impact Olga Postushna, Web-developer, plusone social impact Yuliia Styopkina, Advertising Manager, plusone social impact Bambuk Production

BACKGROUND In Ukraine, men are not acquainted with the talks about their feelings. Our task was to overcome the silence caused by stereotypes like "Boys don't cry" or "Man must be strong" – to show the consequences of ignoring the emotions and the helping power of talking. We wanted to motivate men to open up finally. INSIGHT By hiding emotions behind excuses or stereotypical phrases, men accumulate anxieties that destroy the strength of their psyche.  CAMPAIGN At first we highlighted the problem. The well-known game Jenga inspired us to rethink it as a symbol of men's mental health and build a giant installation in Ukraine's 2 biggest cities. A newsbreak attracted national and regional media, helping to spread the key message “Relief starts with a talk” to a wide audience. Later we promoted documentary-style men stories on TV, radio, OOH and social media. All channels were giving men simple tools to realize their emotions and start working on them. RESULTS We`ve got a powerful feedback and covered around 18.7 mln of Ukrainians. But what's most important – motivated men to take care of their mental health and start talking! The number of hotline calls increased 5 times during only 1 month.