MY NAME IS ANXIETY ad is a bit too dark & threatening for a community feel site.....

[The_Real_David_Charles]

Dear BB,

I'm more anxious reading the ad MY NAME IS ANXIETY.   It's a bit dark/threatening/James Bond meets Dracula.   For me, I end up making fun of it just to see some sense.     This is a serious point but requires some humour to understand it:

"I am the tightening of your cheast" - [from your BB ad]

I am trying on a Medium Size Shirt instead of my true Extra Large Size XXXXXX.[David's interpretation]

"I am the hot & cold flushes that confuse you when you are already confused enough"  [BB]

Who ordered the Bombay Duck and why is it so hot in the Indian Restaurant ? [David]

"I am the obsessive and the compulsive" [BB]

I am the Country AND the Western (Blues Brothers movie)  [David]

"I am the ill ease you feel when walking into a crowded room"  [BB]

"We should have waited for the Ladies Leane and not snuck into the Gents toilets at the State of Origin"  [David]

I don't mean to disrespect the work that went into this campaign but all the cloak and dagger is leading to more anxiety or secrecy and missing the whole point that Anxiety can be given a realistic angle with simple definitions that won't scare the living beJesus out of people.     The only real danger is that such an ad actually stigmatises what is already stigmatised by making things appear too foreboding to tackle or seek treatment.  I always thought Beyondblue had a more mature view of mental illness than to make a serious illness like anxiety masqaurade as a cheap 1950's cop show.

What are you relating to ?  Someone's inner fear ?  That Anxiety has no daylight ?   It's a confusing ad and yet by placing it in the opening page there is the danger that a newcomer might be turned off the site.  Counter productive ?

How is BB gonna treat my own illness - bipolar ?  A Jeckyl and Hyde scenario ?     "I am the mood disorder that cannot be controlled because raging neurons in your brain disconnect and alter your behaviour without so much as a by your leave and then leave your family in a panic because one minute you're suicidal and the next you want to be Jack Nicholson giving the eye to the LA Lakers Basketball Cheer Leaders when the Lakers are 86 to 88 in the last seconds and Kobe has the ball and they need a 3 pointer to win".    So "I am the Hot and Cold" would be the sausage roll and the beer.  Just saying.

Adios, David.

PS   Any other feedback or am I on my own here ?

[The_Real_David_Charles]

Dear BB,

I just got half way through the video clip for MY NAME IS ANXIETY and had to stop.

Having had mental health problems for over 25 yrs, numerous psych admissions, etc, I really can't relate to the vibe of this video.  "I am the whip to your already racing heart" (with a whip like flick).  Who needs that ?

The manner is scary or staged.  The illness is in need of understanding and mindset.  It's just not possible that a BB executive would have viewed this before airing.  It's too damaging to a fragile psyche for that.  Surely, if you want to reveal the dangers of anxiety you do it with a bit of reinforcement, love and compassion.

Putting MY NAME IS ANXIETY in a scary house is really nothing more than 100 years ago when people were locked up in the asylums for life having committed small offers or even got pregnant by mistake.  For an orgnisation that is all about community care where is the sympathy ?    

It seems to be a cheap punch in the face of those that really suffer.    Please take this offensive video and blog off the BB website before any real damage is done.

Adios, David.

PS  Where was the moderation ?????

[Vegetarian Marshmallow]

It made me laugh.  Reminded me of Darkwing Duck: "I am the terror that flaps in the night!  I am the surprise in your cereal box!  I am the termite that devours your floorboards!  I am the metal key on the sardine can of justice!".

Pretty much every advertisement I see goes in either of the "cheesy" or "boring" boxes.  I prefer the cheesy ones.

[geoff]

dear David Charles, you know I'm with you. Geoff.

[The_Real_David_Charles]

Dear Rodentrdron,

Maybe Darkwing Duck is a better actor than Ben Mendlesohn ?  Although one of the Mutant Ninja Turtle Super Hero's might give you a run from their sewer.

Adios, David.

[The_Real_David_Charles]

Dear Geoff,

On a serious note.    With the big MY NAME IS ANXIETY campaign raging I would seriously question it's effectiveness when one considers that there remain multiple posts in the form of "Do I have anxiety ?".   The BB powers that be could have contracted an extra moderator for 6 months with the same budget.  Just saying.

Adios, David.

[The_Real_David_Charles]

Dear BB,

My Name Is Anxiety.    The ad,  not the tv series.

Why does Ben Mendlesohn, in the ad, only had 1 thumb and 3 fingers on his right hand ?   Is this why he is suffering from anxiety ?

Has he just come from a party where he said "Pull my finger" and a young nephew has taken him too literally ?

Adios, David.

PS   I am testing Pandora's Paradox's theory on conflict, i.e. anxiety, being minimalised or defused by humour. Just noticed the missing finger today.

[Mr_J]

100% agree that the ad was not well delivered. You made me get the feeling that delivery was meant to be dark and scary.

Anxiety can be good and bad. People might just be shy? and you bring on a scary ad about anxiety and they start to think "oh god do i have this, i'm shy, i like my alone time, i must have it" 

You guys need a fun upbeat ad about all the great things in life and all the amazing things that happen by fighting these diseases. Not ads that scare people.

 In the end i stopped watching it i got bored, frustrated and was thinking "what the actual hell are they trying to tell people here"

I want to make an animation for Beyond Blue and i'd go the lighter happier way instead of the dark delivery you guys are known for.

[beyondblue_Online_Communi]

Hi all,

Thanks for your comments and feedback re: our 'Get to Know Anxiety' campaign. It will be passed on to our marketing team here for their consideration.

I thought it might be helpful to post some clarification around some of the decision-making behind the campaign.

Get to Know Anxiety was launched in May after extensive testing with blueVoices members living with different levels and types of anxiety. New research showed the number of Australian adults who reported experiencing an anxiety condition in the past 12 months had grown almost 40% in the past four years. Anxiety is obviously an incredibly common condition, but too many Australians still think that symptoms such as obsessive behaviour, relentless worrying or panic attacks are just a part of who they are.

We launched this campaign to show that having anxiety is nothing to be ashamed of and, once it is recognised, it is very responsive to treatment. Another reason we launched the campaign is because, despite anxiety being more common than depression and one in four Australians likely to experience anxiety during their lifetime, research showed only 12% of Australians viewed it as a major health problem. 

The impact of the launch was immediate, with the weekly calls to the our support service growing more than 50% from 1400 before the launch to 2170 in the campaign’s first week. Our website has experienced a similar surge, including the most ever visitors in one day. Also, the Ben Mendelsohn video 'I Am Anxiety' went 'viral' and has attracted almost 200,000 views on YouTube.

We've been floored with the amount of support we have received for the campaign, with many  people writing to us explaining that the ads have inspired them to seek help and how important that has been. We understand that any campaign will have its critics, but we've been really happy with how this is going, especially by breaking down stigma in getting people talking about anxiety that may not have experienced it.

Thanks,

Hugh

[The_Real_David_Charles]

Dear Hugh,

But don't you want people talking about Anxiety for the right reason, i.e. not with some sort of dark, scare campaign ?  There's no link or support service linked on the BB site that includes "Cathartic Therapy".

Your logic is strange - 200,000 You Tubes hits for a dark, scare campaign is "good".   Why not include someone suiciding to elicit more understanding of depression ?   The You Tubes hits for that would be even higher.  The calls would be greater.   The response would be greater.  But again, would the increased awareness from such explicit and dark messages be "good" ?

Why would Beyond blue feel the need to validate and justify itself ?  It's is a kind of punked experience - the safety pins in the ear and the mouth not being enough to attract attention so a purple mowhawk and bin liner costume must be added.

If "anxiety is nothing to be ashamed of" then it's probably "nothing to be made an exhibition of".   Surely, it's a bad day for a supportive depressive site when research within its own organisation is trumped up as a response finding mission.  Do you know what % felt the same way as myself from the 200,000 You Tube hits ?  NO !   You're just quoting the figure.   It's contentious so it's good ?  Really ?  That's not exactly a positive message.

What if the Ben Mendlesohn clip caused more anxiety about anxiety then actual "let's expose this, warts and all" ?   The justifications that you list are more to do with advertising company budgets.    There seems to be a complete lack of "how" we do this.      Why did you go with an ad that scares the s**t out of people ?   Advertisers always go for the extremes.    Probably why the add was lonely and devoid of humany interaction.   Lacking in emotive response other than a droning, frightening, repetitive tone that said a dozen times "I am anxiety" =  "I am bad" = "All mentally ill are bad" = "Let's stereotype mental illness".

Beyondblue, where are you ?    It reads on a gutter press level.  There is no warmth, no feeling of hope, no rescue plan and no glimpse of recovery.  Gotta ask - is this the template for all mental illness presentations ?   Adios, David.