Sobeys launches mental health-focused ad
Sobeys has launched a marketing campaign in support of its three-year-old corporate social responsibility program Family of Support: Child & Youth Mental Health Initiative, which funds mental health programs dedicated to young Canadians.
The campaign from ad agency FCB Canada is led by a 30-second TV and video spot called “Clear the Clouds,” which shows how mental health challenges for young people can grow and become more pervasive, and can’t always be solved without intervention or access to resources.
The ad follows a young boy named Charlie, who is grappling with mental health challenges that go unnoticed. These challenges are embodied by a cloud over Charlie’s head that follows him everywhere he goes. The cloud grows progressively larger and darker as the spot progresses, but a break comes in the form of mental health support.
“Our new TV spot aims to build an emotional connection with Canadians to help them understand the importance of child and youth mental health early intervention,” says Erika DeHaas, vice-president of marketing communications at Sobeys. “Mental health challenges are unique, and the cloud in the TV spot is a visual representation of the mental health challenges a child may experience. Not only does it grow over time and adversely affect the child featured in the spot—it also affects those around them.”
Customers can make in-store donations to the program between July 26 and Aug. 10, with all funds going towards child and youth mental health programs at local children’s hospitals.
Sobeys launched Family of Support in 2020 as a partnership with Canada’s Children’s Hospitals Foundations and the Sobey Foundation. It provides funds to programs that give kids the best chance to thrive. To date, it has donated more than $9 million to the country’s 13 children’s hospital foundations.