Revamping Approaches to Mental Health in the Marketing Sector is Necessary
In a bold and timely move, the Canadian charity Nabs (National Advertising Benevolent Society) and creative agency Cossette launched the "This Job Can Break You If You Let It" campaign. The campaign aims to shed light on the mental health challenges faced by employees in the advertising industry and related creative fields.
Background
The advertising and marketing sectors are notorious for their high-pressure environments, long hours, and intense deadlines. These factors can contribute to burnout, anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues. Recognizing this, Nabs, which provides financial, mental health, and wellness assistance to the advertising community, decided to take action.
In partnership with Cossette, they created a powerful, candid campaign that unflinchingly portrays the sometimes toxic realities workers face. The centrepiece of this campaign is a theatrical cracker, an anthropomorphic character, who performed a jazzy original song named "This Job Can Break You If You Let It."
The Performance and its Message
The song addresses work-related stress and burnout, reflecting the challenges faced by employees due to workplace culture. The single's lyrics serve to encourage employees to prioritize their mental health and take a step back from work when needed. The performance was designed to reach sleep-deprived employees, as it was staged on a sleepless woman's desk.
The lyrics include honest lines about work-related stress and sleep deprivation, and they underscore the importance of addressing these issues. The single's lyrics also address the serious issue of workplace culture impacting employee mental health, highlighting the potential devastating effects of such a culture.
Impact and Reception
The campaign has been successful in raising awareness about the importance of addressing mental health in the workplace, particularly in creative industries that often glamorize hustle culture. It has sparked discussion within advertising and related fields about the need for systemic change, including better mental health support, work-life balance, and healthier workplace environments.
By linking the harsh realities of workplace stress to Nabs’ support services, the campaign encourages individuals struggling with mental health issues to seek help. The campaign has also been praised for its boldness and authenticity, resonating with many workers who feel overlooked or stigmatized in conversations about mental health at work.
While cultural change can be slow, campaigns like this have contributed to a growing movement toward prioritizing employee well-being and recognizing the risks of burnout. The "This Job Can Break You If You Let It" campaign is a significant effort to confront and change harmful workplace norms in the advertising industry, emphasizing the critical need for mental health awareness, support, and cultural transformation.
- The "This Job Can Break You If You Let It" campaign, launched by Nabs and Cossette, is based on science and aims to bolster mental health not only in the advertising industry but also in related creative fields, as it targets the position of employees in high-pressure environments.
- The index of mental health challenges could be significantly reduced if the message of the campaign, addressing work-related stress and burnout, is heeded by employees in the workplace-wellness sector.
- In a bid to promote health-and-wellness and destigmatize conversations about mental health, the campaign's jazzy single advocates for prioritizing mental health through defi (definition) and proactive measures in the workplace, such as better support systems and healthier environments.
