Top Spot of the Week: Droga5, Ad Council, Rapper Akinyemi Team On "Whatever Gets You Talking" Music Video For Suicide Prevention

By

Robert Goldrich
Thursday, May. 14, 2020

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Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young adults. Even though checking in on a friend and talking about mental health can make such a big difference, many young people are hesitant to do so because it can sometimes feel awkward. 

To make a difference, two years ago Droga5 NY launched “Seize the Awkward,” in collaboration with the Ad Council, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) and the Jed Foundation (JED). The national suicide-prevention campaign focused on making the potential awkwardness around the conversation less daunting. 

Now the next iteration of "Seize the Awkward" focuses on directly encouraging 16-24-year-olds to take action and start a conversation, giving them the tools and language to reach out to a friend about their mental health.

To coincide with Mental Health Awareness Month and the important life experiences young people are missing out on this May--from prom to graduation, or new jobs and moving out--young people are being encouraged to check in with their friends. 

Right now, reaching out and checking in on a friend’s mental health is more important than ever. Keeping our physical distance doesn’t mean we have to be socially distant. You don’t have to be there to be there for a friend.

To kick things off, the “Seize the Awkward” campaign teamed up with up-and-coming rapper Akinyemi and director Kristian Mercado Figueroa to create “Whatever Gets You Talking,” a colorful musical film that flaunts the sheer breadth of ways to help start a conversation.  

The music video speaks directly to viewers who might be struggling to find a way to reach out to a friend about their mental health. In a magical fashion, Akinyemi’s voice appears to guide us all through the different ways we can reach out and ultimately start a conversation with our friends.

Throughout the lyrical journey, assorted conversation starters have been beautifully brought to life by a global crew of animators and artists all with their own distinctive characters and styles. Even some big-name influencers whom the target audience knows and loves lent their talents, such as Addison Rae, Avery Cyrus, Bryce Xavier, Molly Burke, mxmtoon, James Henry, The McFarlands, and Zach Valentine and Pat Ramirez, and pop icon Meghan Trainor. 

To make it even simpler for people to take action and reach out, the campaign partnered with 36 artists across the world to create over 70 specially crafted conversation starters that launched on social and dazzling GIFs and stickers on GIPHY that anyone could easily send to a friend that they’re worried about.

Credits

Client Ad Council/The Jed Foundation/American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) Agency Droga5 New York David Droga, creative chairman; Neil Heymann, global chief creative officer; Tim Gordon, Felix Richter, co-chief creative officers; Kevin Brady, executive creative director; Oriel Davis-Lyons, Rachel Frederick, creative directors; Mietta McFarlane, Daniel Litzow, sr. copywriters; Luke Chard, sr. art director; Gabriel Santana, Caroline Ekrem, copywriters; Belen Marquez, Bowook Yoon, art directors; Rich Greco, executive design director; Ashley Legiadre, designer; Mike Gaynor, motion design lead; Sally-Ann Dale, chief creation officer; Jesse Brihn, director of film production; Jeremy Fox, executive producer, film; Tasha Cronin, director of interactive production; Aaron Matys, interactive producer; Cliff Lewis, director of art production; Dagmar Wong, sr. art producer; Caroline Fahey, art producer; Mike Ladman, sr. music supervisor; Jonny Bauer, global chief strategy officer; Harry Roman-Torres, head of strategy; Graham Jones, sr. strategist; Dean Challis, head of communications strategy; Ben Nilsen, group communications strategy director; Mariel Milner, sr. communications strategist; Molly Klein, communications strategist; Wendy Kong, group data strategy director; Bryan Bumgardner, Ben Cunningham, sr. data strategists; Danny Hernandez, PR & communications director. Production Nice Shoes Kristian Mercado Figueroa Tara Holmes, Thomas Sponzo, exec producers; Colin Moneymaker, producer; Kayli Weiss, DP (Akinyemi). Editorial Nice Shoes Michael Reuter, editor; Danny Weeks, assistant editor; Maggie Flatley, producer. Postproduction Nice Shoes Tara Holmes, Thomas Sponzo, exec producers; Colin Moneymaker, producer; Katey Marquette, Dino Qiu, designers; Rafael Perez, Trung Bao, Joey Gasiorek, Mitchell Zemil, Raymo Ventura, Daniel Cordero, animators; Syd Fini, storyboards; Phil Choe, colorist; Kayako Ono, compositor. Music Walker Akinyemi, writer/performer; Abbey Hendrix, exec producer; Julianne Wilson, producer; Christopher Keyes, Chris Nungary, recording engineers & music editors; Axel Mansoor, arranger; Kevin Brady hook melody writer; Oriel Davis-Lyons, beat contributor. Audio Post Heard City Sasha Awn, exec producer. Artists Alex Tait, Ana Jaks, Andrea Manzati, BIFF, Blake Kathryn Thomas, Blok Magnaye, Cachete Jack, Camelia Pham, Clorophilla, Dan Woodger, David Milan, Doña Batata, Edward Ubiera, Eleonora Arosio, Eva Cremers, Gustavo Dorieto, Hunky Dunky (Yonito Tanu & Jessica Chapiness), Janelle Barone, Jenue (Alvaro Matas), Jill De Haan, Laura Jayne Hodkin, Lindsey Made This (Lindsey Wright), Lucila Perini, Max Friedman, Michelle Pereira, Monique Wray, Neryl Walker, Nina Chakrabarti, Sharee Miller, Si Scott, Son of Alan (Lee Woodgate), Steffi Lynn, Toby Triumph, Tommy Parker, Vasya Kolotusha, Will Bryant

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