The Mass Marketing of Mental Health

Major brands are promoting self-care in efforts to connect with us – to what end?

To help navigate the stresses of daily life, many of us have rightfully prioritized looking after ourselves. A few of the world’s most renowned brands appear to have recognized this and have begun incorporating elements of mental health care into some of their most visible advertising.

I played basketball in high school and vividly remember when Powerade came out. We didn’t have air conditioning in our gym and depending on the time of day, it got real hot. Like “get a cramp during every sprint” kind of hot. One day our coach introduced us to these tall aluminum cans filled with a bright colored beverage that at the time I could only describe as the most welcome sweet nectar. I mean, how could our metallic tasting water from the school fountains compete with this?

You may be asking what this has to do with mental health? Well, Powerade recently released a “Pause is Power” promotion showing athletes pausing competition to engage in things like knitting and ballet dancing, and even features famed gymnast and mental health advocate Simone Biles. And, Powerade is not alone.

General Motors is said to be preparing a social media campaign that features influencers advising viewers to check their stress levels before getting into their cars.

Meal kit service Blue Apron revamped their offerings with simpler menus to reduce the stress of cooking as part of their “Wellness 360” initiative.

This trend of placing mental health and well-being at the forefront of brand messaging can be interpreted in one of two ways. It’s possible that the creative teams working for these world-renowned brands are truly enlightened and have wholly altruistic motives for incorporating mental health issues in their advertising that should be applauded. But it’s also possible, and likely more so, that these companies have seen the surge in concern and public discussion surrounding mental health in the last several years and are attempting to appeal to the emotions of their demographic in a new and different (some might say deceiving) way in order to boost sales.

Some readers may find that latter take to be overly cynical, and I hope you can pardon my skepticism. At the end of the day, we must keep in mind that no matter how heartwarming an ad Coca Cola produces (and admittedly, their pandemic-inspired “Together Tastes Better” campaign does tug at the heartstrings), their end goal is to sell their products. These brands recognize that America’s mental health crisis is continuing to spiral out of control, even as the weather warms and COVID cases trend downward. Forty percent of Americans with a 12-month history of severe mental disorder are not receiving treatment, along with sixty percent of those dealing with major depression. Anxiety, substance use, suicide ideation are all on the rise. 

I will concede that this trend of large corporations getting into the mental health game may not be all bad. At the very least, these product advertisements that purport to speak to mental health can help to jumpstart discussions and reduce social stigma. General Motors has said that their upcoming commercial campaign was planned after they received a survey showing a majority of respondents had spent time crying in their cars or had pulled over because they were too emotional to drive. These struggles are very real for many of us, and anytime that people are encouraged to confront or indulge their emotions in a healthy manner, it’s a win for reducing social stigma.

With that being said, we all need to be wary of messaging that’s creating a false sense of self-care. A soft drink company using a commercial to draw attention to the mental health crisis is admirable. But it should go without saying that if you suffer from a mental health disorder, you’ll need much more than a flavored beverage to find relief (and never mind how unhealthy the drink is for your overall health!). 

In a world where we are increasingly bombarded with advertising everywhere we look, we need to use a critical eye and distinguish between what marketers are selling as “self-care” and things that will actually improve our physical and mental health and well-being. For some of us, self-care may be as simple as pampering ourselves with a manicure or treating ourselves to an extra scoop of ice cream, and if so, then go for it. For the rest of us, mental health care should be approached like the complex, deeply personal issue that it is. In fact, I find that some of the best forms of self-care don’t require the purchase of a product at all, but focus on building relationships with friends, family, and loved ones – or even a trusted mental health professional.

While none of these companies asked me what they should do if they really wanted to invest in mental health and prioritize it, I am going to tell them anyway. I think there are three things:

1)      Invest in the solution: Coca-Cola alone averages 4 billion in global marketing per year, with a paltry 2 billion here in the United States. I mean that’s just jaw-dropping cash going into convincing people to drink your product. What would happen if Coca-Cola (or any fortune 500 company) took a percentage of their profits and invested in mental health solutions? This would be game changing overnight. And there’s no shortage of solutions to invest in. It just seems that if these businesses really wanted to impact mental health, they could.

2)      Take care of your own people: No matter how big or small a business is, they all have employees. One of the most powerful ways an employer can show they care about mental health is how they support their own employees. While I don’t claim to know how any of the businesses currently marketing mental health take care of their own, data consistently show we can be doing better – just take a look at the Mental Health America Mind the Workplace report to get an idea of how far we have to go. Flexible work hours, comprehensive mental health benefits, and onsite services are all great places to start.

3)      Use that policy muscle: A gentle reminder that the mental health field doesn’t really spend a lot of money on direct lobbying or advocacy (at least compared to others).  Amazon and Meta spent over $20 million each lobbying Congress last year. Can you imagine how quickly some of the important work in Congress would get done if these massive corporate leaders decided to invest their dollars in passing mental health policy instead of just advocating for policies that help their bottom line? It would be stunning. I am sure friends like Inseparable would welcome the help (or investment)!

Thankfully, our nation is finally seeing some legislative movement that may be cause for optimism. One of the proposals in President Biden’s FY23 budget is to require insurers to cover three mental health visits per year. As a mental health advocate, it would be a huge victory to see a world where everyone has access to preventative care. Just as you go to get a physical examination every year, you should be able to receive a mental health exam. Of course, we need to make sure there’s an actual system there for people to access!

There’s movement in the mental health space. While I can question certain businesses’ motives, it doesn’t change the fact that we are seeing mental health discussed at levels it has not been before. Let’s use this fuel and transform our nation’s approach to mental health.

Coca-Cola, GM, and any one else out there, I am ready to talk about how when you are.