17151: Just Don’t Do It…?

 

Liven asks people to take an online test to develop an anti-procrastination plan. Okay, except won’t true procrastinators put it off—or not do it at all?

15989: Prioritizing Patronizing One Day At A Time.

 

As a follow-up of sorts to the previous post, it’s a safe bet that most advertising agencies acknowledged World Mental Health Day over Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Which is another depressing reminder of the priorities in Adland.

15810: Ulta Beauty Is Ultra Ugly—In Spades.

 

The New York Post reported on Ulta Beauty’s ugliness—that is, its outrageous example of cultural cluelessness—which ignited much-deserved online backlash. The cosmetics beauty retailer sent out the email referenced above, allegedly unintentionally making light of Kate Spade’s suicide by hanging in 2018. To make matters even more disgusting, May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Beautiful.

 

Fans rip Ulta Beauty for shocking email about Kate Spade’s suicide

 

By Samantha Ibrahim

 

Ulta Beauty is attempting to makeup with fans after ugly backlash over its latest “tone-deaf” email promotion.

 

The cosmetics mega company sent out an email for a Kate Spade perfume on Sunday that unintentionally alluded to the designer’s suicide. Ulta’s message to customers read “Come hang with Kate Spade” alongside a sale for its beauty products.

 

Spade died by suicide when she hanged herself in 2018. She was 55.

 

The beauty behemoth apologized in a statement to The Post on Monday.

 

“Ulta Beauty recently sent an email featuring Kate Spade New York fragrance with an insensitive subject line and for this, we sincerely apologize,” the rep said. “Mental health is a very serious, important issue in this country, and not something we would ever take lightly. We apologize to the Spade family, our Kate Spade New York brand partners and to our guests. Thank you for understanding as we strive to do better.”

 

Fans were appalled by the reference and expressed outrage on social media.

 

“How disgusting to use for clickbait,” wrote one, believing the message was written intentionally.

 

“I cannot believe I got this email today,” one person wrote on Twitter. “Is this some kind of sick joke? How insensitive and absolutely tone-deaf. Apparently nobody in marketing at Ulta remembers how Kate Spade died. Disgusting.”

 

Another chimed in, “Just got this email … this is wrong of Ulta Beauty … Kate Spade committed suicide by hanging herself.”

 

“Ulta Beauty corporate probably having a MELTDOWN realizing somebody sent out a promo email with the subject line Come hang with Kate Spade … somebody’s losing their job,” a user added.

 

“Ulta Beauty f—ked up with their Kate Spade email. Not only did I get a metric f—k ton of emails all night, but the headline was BULLS—T. Ulta gives no care to the mental health community, Kate Spade or her family. Gross,” a fan wrote.

 

As May marks Mental Health Awareness month, another noted, “Kate Spade was amazing and an icon. Your lack of attention to detail is sad at best, negligent and hurtful at worst. Do better. #MentalHealthAwareness.”

 

Criticizing the critics currently disseminating the promo, one insisted, “Sharing that awful ulta beauty x kate spade email is honestly worse than ulta sending it in my opinion because someone in the comments who would’ve never seen it otherwise literally said they were triggered by it. that person should’ve just emailed ulta.”

 

At the time of the fashion icon’s death, her family sent out a statement saying: “To most of the world, she was Kate Spade, the beautiful embodiment of her brand and a glamorous cultural icon.”

 

Kate Spade founded the brand with husband Andy Spade in the early 90s, putting up their own money to launch their line of preppy, colorful handbags, which they hustled together at trade shows for years until the likes of Barneys and Saks would carry them — and without the help of celebrity endorsements as so many brands rely on these days.

 

The duo sold their stake in Kate Spade to Neiman Marcus in 2006 — by then already considered iconic, and expanded beyond bags to include other accessories, clothing and home goods.

 

Andy released his own statement at the time of Kate’s death, explaining that “there were personal demons she was battling.”

 

“Kate suffered from depression and anxiety for many years. She was actively seeking help and working closely with her doctors to treat her disease, one that takes far too many lives,” he wrote in 2018.

15573: Mental Health Awareness Mindlessness.

Shitty scam ads #CannotReplaceTalent

 

15549: Overreaction Of The Week.

Adweek spotlighted a Gain commercial hyping how the detergent turns people into “Gainiacs”—which seems culturally clueless and insensitive to people with mental health issues, no?

14893: Advertising Agencies Toxic To The Mental Health Of Workers…?

Digiday published a lengthy report on the rise of mental health benefits for advertising agency employees. Of course, the article failed to target the typical ad agency leadership creating and perpetuating workplace conditions that are maddening—and give “Mad Men” a whole new meaning. Oh, and it should be noted that the piece opened by featuring a stressed and anxious employee from The Martin Agency—yes, that agency.

‘Sense of urgency’: Ad agencies are now offering more mental health and wellness benefits to employees

By Kristina Monllos

Until last year, Erada Svetlana had never been to therapy. After feeling mounting stress and anxiety, Svetlana, a design production supervisor at The Martin Agency, booked her first appointment with a psychiatrist through the agency’s employee assistance program.

The first four sessions were provided for free by her employer, something that encouraged Svetlana. “I left that experience on a positive note, felt like I worked through what I needed to work through and even recommended it to a friend,” she said. “There’s a ripple effect.”

That ripple effect goes beyond The Martin Agency. The company is one of a number of agencies across the country that have worked to increase the available mental health resources for employees over the last year or two. The available resources vary but tend to include covering mental health care, paid subscriptions to teledoctors and therapy apps like Headspace, Calm and Om, as well as payments for in-office counselors and yoga sessions. Other benefits: more time off and flexibility about employees’ late arrival or early departure. Some agencies like Eleven, Venables Bell & Partners and EP&Co now also offer services like massage therapy, acupuncture and chiropractor care to employees during office hours.

Agencies are providing these mental health-focused perks not only to help employees manage their stress and anxiety better but also to help the agencies’ business. After all, agencies are a people business and wholly dependent on the talent inside. Doing this might also help agencies avoid having to manage more of a talent crisis. As previously reported by Digiday, agencies have been battling tech companies and major brands for agency talent. A 2019 survey by The Creative Group found that 92% of the advertising and marketing leaders polled said that it’s difficult to find a skilled new hire. With that being the case, agencies are finding it imperative to retain that talent and keep them happy.

Mental health is on the mind of agency employees. In a recent Digiday survey, 17% of the 147 agency employees polled said they were not happy at work. In the same survey, 34% of the respondents said they were worried about their mental health at work and 88% said work-life balance was very important for employees’ day-to-day satisfaction.

“You’re not making a product that’s tangible, and there’s a lot of mental stress in creativity or problem solving on the production end,” said Jeff Howle, director of employee engagement at EP&Co. “Our assets are people. People are what make or break the work,” he added. “It’s imperative that we figure out how we as an industry can maintain the mental clarity or sanity of our people.”

And providing access to mental health care and wellness programs can be directly linked to better business. “There is a data-driven case for improving the mental health of our employees,” said Heidi Taglio, head of talent for Eleven. “Mental health-related and substance-abuse issues cost businesses approximately $90 billion annually. So there’s a reason for companies and agencies to be invested,” she noted. “And it is the right thing to do.” According to research by the National Alliance on Mental Health, mental illnesses can cost the U.S. economy $193.2 billion in lost earnings annually.

The lost earnings that result from employees’ mental health issues are likely just one factor driving agencies’ push to increase the availability of such benefits now. As social norms change and younger generations are now more comfortable talking about mental health than their predecessors, addressing those needs through the provision of benefits has become “table stakes,” according to Jean Freeman, Zambezi’s CEO.

Simon Fenwick, evp of talent, equity and inclusion for the American Association of Advertising Agencies, said agency HR departments have made mental health one of their top priorities for 2020. “There’s generally a sense of urgency in the community around addressing the issue,” said Fenwick, adding that it’s more common now for agencies to offer in-office counseling sessions and point employees to therapy apps. “It’s a good sign that agencies are saying it’s OK to take time for people to take time for themselves. That’s a dynamic shift in the industry.”

Mary Johnstone, head of talent at Venables Bell & Partners, said her agency’s work to address employees’ mental health issues by providing improved benefits is helping with employee retention. Still, “if they’re going to leave it’s not going to keep them here,” she observed. “But we definitely have heard of instances where people have said they would’ve left if they didn’t feel supported. It helps with tenure over time as well as the younger workforce.”

Broad data on the effects of these services and benefits is not available. The 4A’s is working on a survey of its members concerning this mental health and wellness topic, Fenwick said. Agency executives shared with Digiday their anecdotal observations that addressing employees’ mental health does seem to help with their perceptions about their agency and that this likely helps with employee retention, but firm metrics of the programs’ success are unavailable to date.

And agencies have to be careful to not venture too far in one direction in their addressing of mental health needs. According to an employee at an in-house agency who requested anonymity, offering employees the use of apps like Headspace and Calm can feel transactional rather than helpful. “We’re missing that human element,” the in-house creative said, adding that it’s difficult to convey the stress of client demands and deadlines to agency HR staffers who don’t perform such jobs. “People are just left hanging by themselves to figure it out. You have to rely on people outside because you don’t have that trust to go and ask HR for help. They don’t seem knowledgeable.”

For agencies, balancing how much to talk with their employees about mental health is tricky; agency executives said they don’t want to overstep employees’ personal boundaries but do want to make clear what their company offers.

And for employees, addressing mental health at work can also be tricky. Even when confidentiality is promised, being truly open in a discussion with an employer about a mental health issue can feel uncomfortable.

“Agencies are talking about it and the door is open,” said Rushil Nadkarni, an art director at The Martin Agency. “People need to talk about it. But how much do you talk and how worried” should an employee be about how much is shared? “It’s a gray area.”

Yet for all players involved, figuring out how to address mental health is crucial. “Managers and leaders in agencies should acknowledge that this is something we deal with,” said the in-house agency employee. “You can have the best company in the world. But if people don’t really care for you, all those cool perks don’t really matter.”

14812: The Insanity Of Raising Awareness And Raising Awards Revenue.

Adweek published a divertorial from ADCOLOR® Chairman Marc Stephenson Strachan on adland’s alleged lack of awareness and sensitivity for mental illness. Either ADCOLOR® is further blurring its heat shield efforts or the organization realizes the industry discriminates against every non-White group possible. Then again, it’s sadly common for an awards program to seek to boost revenue by expanding the categories for entry.

It’s Time We Overhaul the Industry’s Narrative Around Mental Illness

Too often people suffering are shamed for trying to draw clear boundaries

By Marc Stephenson Strachan

This is a very difficult topic to write about, given my cultural background where “we don’t talk about these things.” However, the truth is that we must talk about these things, as they are a natural part of life and affect so many people annually. Some we know, many we don’t. Too many suffer in silence and laugh along, as we make snide remarks and offhand jokes about the mental illness conditions that often lead up to—and sometimes are direct causes of—suicide.

We talk a lot these days about work-life balance and health and wellness in business. Too often it’s just talk. Very little action is taken to assist those that need help, much of which requires preventative actions and resources that allow people to be able to afford required help.

I was shocked to recently discover that some key medical needs in this area are not covered by health insurance, as they are not deemed medical priorities/emergencies or real medical issues. Those of us who work in advertising and marketing fields find ourselves in constant pools of stress, duress and high-level pressure, the precursors to depression, mood swings, hopelessness and their unfortunate outcomes (unexpected rage, loss of productivity, absenteeism, addictive behavior, etc.).

We hold people at fault when they show signs of stress and request time off to deal with it. Societal taboos don’t allow those affected to honestly discuss their issues, so they hide, lie and suffer in silence, alone and with the high anxiety of being discovered. HR people, naturally, are not trained to deal with these issues. Hell, they are not trained in most cases to even notice the signs before things derail.

I have worked with people that were clearly dealing with challenges. Depending on their level and stature in the organization, we allowed it to fester, pretending nothing was wrong. This is especially the order of the day if the person is considered “highly creative” or “valuable to the agency-client relationship.”

Often, their internal pain and suffering were more advanced than we thought. There were virtually no treatment options for them. We employed a position of: “Keep quiet. Don’t ask. Don’t tell.” We enabled them to scream at underlings, yell at colleagues and disappear for days at a time. And we still acted like all was fine. Then, when the bomb exploded, we all acted surprised.

We need to change the narrative and the workplace dynamics around these issues. We must take a stand and significantly ramp up discussions and solutions around preventative and real-life treatment options. We must provide safe spaces for people to raise their hands and seek help. We must erase the taboos from our mindset and become true supporters of our colleagues. This should be a topic at every industry conference and convention. We must fully open our eyes. These challenges are not going away.

Let’s truly help prevent suicide and not hinder treatment by hiding behind false realities and fear.

Marc Stephenson Strachan is chairman of ADCOLOR, Inc. and a senior marketing and advertising industry executive.

14793: Somebody Should Have Killed This Depressing Campaign From Nigeria.

Kill depression, not yourself…? Sorry, but this Nigerian campaign is, well, depressing.

14152: NABS BS.

Campaign published a perspective from NABS CEO Diana Tickell, whose organization “is here to improve the wellbeing of everyone in the advertising and media industry.” Tickell believes prioritising mental wellbeing should be a business imperative in adland. Great—yet another agenda item that takes priority over true diversity. Heaven forbid anyone might be concerned about how the industry’s exclusivity and discriminatory hiring practices might adversely affect the mental wellbeing of racial and ethnic minorities.

A view from Diana Tickell

Why prioritising mental wellbeing is a matter of urgency for adland

As Mental Health Awareness Week kicks off adland must face up to some uncomfortable questions about employee wellbeing.

Staff turnover in adland is at 30%, compared with 10% for business at large, a state of play which makes prioritising mental wellbeing a business imperative.

In the first quarter of this year NABS took more calls to its Advice Line than at any other time in six years. Back then the majority of calls were about redundancy — now more than a third are for emotional support, of which 64% are about mental health and work pressures.

We are working in an increasingly fast-paced and adrenaline-charged industry. It’s exciting, but it’s relentless and it can be physically and mentally exhausting.

Research we conducted with Mind at the end of last year makes for uncomfortable reading. More than two thirds said they had considered leaving the industry because of poor wellbeing at work. More than a third said their mental health over the past year had been poor or very poor.

The cost of burnout

People are our most valuable asset in our industry — but they need to be happy, healthy and thriving to perform at their best. The good news is this is achievable if we work together to prioritise mental wellbeing in the workplace.

When we’re mentally distressed less oxygen reaches the brain and cortisol increases. This results in a reduction in critical thinking, decision-making, creativity and the ability to focus — all of which are critical if our industry is to flourish. Over time stress can even lead to depression and burnout.

With staff turnover in Adland at 30%, compared to 10% on average — the potential knock-on effect of poor mental wellbeing to our industry is huge.

When we experience positive mental wellbeing, more oxygen and glucose gives the brain the energy to perform at its best.

Shifting the dial

It is this latest thinking in neuroscience and positive psychology that led NABS to create our SHEPARD Model for Wellbeing featuring the seven elements we believe make up good wellbeing: satisfaction, health, emotions, perceptions, awareness, rewards and diversity. This framework underpins how we design and deliver all our services.

All too often investment in mental wellbeing is an afterthought as a result of major incidents or loss of income due to a stressed workforce. This is the wrong approach: it should be a preventative measure and a series of positive interventions which become a way of life, rather than a reaction.

We need to care for our brain and minds as we do our bodies. Interventions can include regular exercise, mindfulness, improved diet and building stronger, more supportive relationships.

At NABS our masterclasses on topics including ‘Building Resilience to Pressure’ and ‘Mindfulness for Busy Working Parents’ give people the tools they need to flip a pattern of negative thinking and approach those inevitably stressful times in a more positive and productive way.

During one-to-one wellbeing coaching sessions we will advise our clients how to raise the issue of mental health with their manager and what to ask for.

We also empower them to ask for a change to their working practices if it would benefit their mental health. This may mean asking for flexible working, or making sure clients know that they aren’t available after hours on one or two nights a week.

The power of openness

It is encouraging that every day we find more people willing to speak out about the issues of mental health — but what about those who don’t feel confident to ask for help?

We realise many managers lack suitable training to identify and support their employees’ mental wellbeing. In our research with Mind, 46% said they wouldn’t feel comfortable talking to their line manager if work was having a negative impact on their mental health.

This is why we are trialling a new masterclass at NABS which will give attendees the tools to become leaders who understand and care about the wellbeing of their teams. It will teach the importance of creating an environment which promotes individual brain and mind health.

Building nurturing cultures

Employers need to create better working environments and a culture which supports individuals’ wellbeing. Our industry thrives when people are at their most creative.

At a recent NABS event at Advertising Week Europe, Unruly co-founder Sarah Wood revealed the company had installed a no dress code policy, standing desks, snooze pods and working spaces for introverts who need peace and quiet.

Our Working Parents Initiative White Paper highlights how businesses are changing their culture for the better, including Rufus Leonard which offers home-working across the company and incorporates flexible working into job descriptions.

Company leaders need to set the tone for how their staff perceive and respond to stress. If there is a culture of presenteeism, long hours and micro-managing then staff will suffer through a lack of confidence, anxiety and stress.

When people are feeling a sense of happiness, satisfaction, achievement and trust they perform at their best. Three quarters of industry employees say they would be more likely to stay with an employer who is interested in their wellbeing.

We are lucky to work in one of the most exciting and fast-moving professions there is. But we need to urgently prioritise mental wellbeing in the workplace, otherwise talent will be lost and we will all suffer.

Diana Tickell is CEO of NABS

13961: Mainstreaming Mental Illness.

Campaign published a perspective from Red Tettemer O’Connell + Partners Creative Director Chris Plehal, who advocated for accurate and frequent depictions of people with mental illnesses in advertising. Um, has adland ever accurately and frequently depicted anyone in any group at anytime? Sorry, but Plehal’s pleas will only lead to borrowed interest and patronizing pap. Which means lots of White advertising agencies are bound to jump all over it—because, ironically, the prospect of generating self-promotion and winning awards makes adfolks go crazy.

Why advertising shouldn’t fear mental illness

By Chris Plehal

As professional communicators, it’s about time we figured out how we can initiate those conversations, says a creative director at RTO+P.

A few years ago, I saw a commercial in which a floating bathrobe followed a woman. Blue and furry, the bathrobe had sleepy Muppet eyes, as if Cookie Monster’s skin somehow gained sentience. As the woman tried to spend a day with her family, the bathrobe kept throwing itself on her shoulders in a heavy, floppy bear hug.

The bathrobe represented the woman’s depression. As I watched, I thought, “This ad makes depression seem extra weird.” It reinforced the stigma of mental illness as something we can’t talk about directly. It must become abstracted—envisioned as a floating bathrobe or, in other versions of the ad, an umbrella, a cloud, or an amorphous blue blob.

To me, the ad made one point clear: mental illness is really hard to talk about. As professional communicators, it’s about time we figured out how we can initiate those conversations.

A larger conversation about mental health has bubbled around the edges of culture for a while now. Take the Broadway musical “Dear Evan Hansen.” It has near-“Hamilton” levels of hype and praise and deals head-on with issues like social anxiety and depression.

Similarly, consider The New York Times’ bestseller, “Hyperbole and a Half.” In technicolor scribbles, cartoonist Allie Brosh paints a hilarious and heartbreaking account of her own depression. Allie’s illustrated self, wearing a dirty gray hoodie, detaches from society almost completely, finally finding comfort when she discovers an abandoned kernel of corn under the fridge. (It makes sense in the book; I promise.)

Then, we have “To the Bone,” a fictionalized account of director Marti Noxon’s battle with anorexia, and Netflix’s “13 Reasons Why,” which addresses the aftermath of a suicide. In media of all kinds, creative people have begun to drag mental health out of the shadows and into the light.

Nonetheless, a tremendous social stigma still attaches itself to mental illness. As a result, opening up about your own struggles can prove terrifying. I speak from experience here; as a child, I found myself hospitalized for anorexia and, as an adult, have battled intense anxiety issues. Speaking publicly about those parts of myself has proved one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. The cultural acceptance still doesn’t seem quite there.

As advertising and media professionals, we have the power to shape that culture. It’s up to us to portray mental illness accurately and frequently. We need to make saying “I have borderline personality disorder” as easy as saying “I have allergies.”

Recently, I had the chance to work with nonprofit Bring Change to Mind to create an interactive conversation tool. The tool lets you choose from a list of mental disorders, then select the person with which you’d like to talk. For example, you can select “How to talk about depression with a football fan,” “How to talk about anxiety with a chef,” or “How to talk about bipolar disorder with a history major.” Then, the tool offers up a written conversation starter or a short video showing someone broaching the topic.

The tone of the project remained light—almost silly. The idea wasn’t to trivialize mental illness, but rather make conversations about it more approachable.

Other agencies have done great work on behalf of mental health groups as well, but this attitude should extend beyond nonprofits. Think of that Cheerios ad a few years ago—the one that featured a mixed-race family. It wasn’t an ad about mixed-race families. It was about cereal. But it accurately portrayed modern life and helped knock down a conversational barrier.

As people who broadcast words and images to millions, we as advertisers need to strive for a similar impact around mental health. We need to become brave enough to talk about these issues in normal, everyday ways. To make it less weird. Less scary.

I don’t suggest we capitalize on mental health to sell products. But, when creating ads, shows or films, we can make that extra effort to portray mental illness as the everyday issue it is. If we do it right, those individuals struggling will feel more comfortable opening up to their friends and family, who, in turn, will feel better equipped to offer support.

So, let’s hang up the sad blue bathrobe and accurately portray the changing culture of mental health. It will seem scary and awkward. We’ll probably make some mistakes. But, bringing these issues into the open could help hundreds of thousands of people. We owe it to them to try.

Chris Plehal is a Creative Director at Red Tettemer O’Connell + Partners.

11662: Mickey D’s Changes Its Mind.

Advertising Age reported Mickey D’s has removed the online McResource program advising employees to avoid eating the fast feeder’s food. A spokesperson stated the following:

We have offered the McResource program to help our valued McDonald’s employees with work and life guidance created by independent third party experts. A combination of factors has led us to re-evaluate, and we’ve directed the vendor to take down the website. Between links to irrelevant or outdated information, along with outside groups taking elements out of context, this created unwarranted scrutiny and inappropriate commentary. None of this helps our McDonald’s team members. We’ll continue to provide service to them through an internal telephone help line, which is how the majority of employees access the McResource services.

Telephone help line? Sounds like Mickey D’s is offering social services. Hey, maybe they can repurpose the ad below.

11201: JWT Is Crazy Clueless.

Check out the Chief Generosity Officer in the new Vonage campaign from JWT. The advertising agency leader who approved this bullshit deserves the title of Chief Culturally Clueless Officer. It’s not right to make light of “crazy” people.