Don’t Get Me Wrong

In 2010, our campaign aimed to get people to realise that they are responsible for stigma and discrimination. 

We all have small prejudices, and behave in ways that could inadvertently be hurtful to people with mental health problems.  Before we can stop stigma and discrimination, we need to get people to realise that they’re the ones that are prejudiced.

To do this, in September 2010 we carried out a social experiment in which volunteers placed ads on flatshare and dating sites.

First, they placed the ads without mentioning their mental health problem.  Then they placed the exact same ads with one new line added… “I have a mental health problem.”

What happened?

There was a big drop in interest. Overall, letting people know they had a mental health problem meant our volunteers received:

• 50% fewer responses to dating ads
• 68% fewer responses to their flatshare ads

The results for one participant, Erik, were even more striking. When Erik revealed his mental health problem he received:

• 81% fewer responses to his dating ad
• 76% fewer responses to his flatshare ad

We used these results as the basis for our advertising campaign.  We ran ads in national newspapers and magazines, and on the radio.  See an example of the press advertising.

How did it do?

Our radio and press advertising reached 5.6 million people during September 2010.

Research showed that the campaign was effective at getting people to recognize the impact of their actions and change their behaviour accordingly – 66% of people who saw the campaign reconsidered their own behaviour towards people with mental health problems as a result.

In May 2011, the campaign was recognised by top marketing experts when it won two Drum Marketing Awards.