Aardman launches mental health campaign “What’s Up With Everyone?”
Award-winning Bristol-based studio Aardman have teamed up with leading researchers and mental health charities in the development of a new campaign aimed at increasing young people aged 17-24’s awareness of the factors that contribute negatively to their mental and emotional wellbeing. Working alongside the young audience who make up its target demographic, What’s Up With Everyone? takes the form of a series of short films that aim to authentically represent the range of mental health challenges they are likely to face.
What’s Up With Everyone? (Image: Aardman)
The campaign has been headed up by Paul Crawford (Professor of Health Humanities at the University of Nottingham) with research teams at The University of Nottingham, Loughborough University, the London School of Economics and Politics, the Mental Health Foundation and the preventative mental wellbeing charity Happy Space UK as well as young people’s mental health expert Dr Dominique Thompson. The films launch this week across social media and via the project’s website and feature five characters who find themselves facing issues related to loneliness, perfectionism, competitiveness, independence and social media, determined through the research of the campaign to have been among the more prominent root causes that negatively impact mental health.
With two thirds of young people reported to be experiencing worse mental health since the lockdown period, the campaign also comes on the heels of findings from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) that discovered 57% of university students had reported a deterioration of their mental health and well-being since September 2020, as well as a recent NHS survey suggesting one in six young people had a probable mental health disorder in July 2020 (a significant increase from the findings of one in nine in 2017).
We set out to produce short films which young people could relate to, something that felt genuine and honest. We wanted to create content that could come up on someone’s social media and elicit the response ‘I know that feeling’. We want people watching them to see a little of themselves in the characters and their stories and that be the start of thinking about how they feel, or cope and how it could be better.
What really sets this project apart is that it’s been co-created with young people at every step. Their input alongside those of our experts, has been invaluable and enlightening, enabling us to craft authentic and effective resources that can make a genuinely positive impact.
-Daniel Binns (Animation Director, Aardman Animations)
These wonderful short animated stories should help all our young people to think about and explore solutions to the kind of mental health challenges that come with difficult life transitions such as heading off to university or college or starting in training or employment. The films and supporting online resources will be very welcome at this time, with all the disruption and anxieties in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
As well as providing a much needed mental health resource, this campaign forms part of a wider research project that will also evaluate how effective these creative platforms are as a way of reaching the young people who need it, and ensuring help and guidance is easily accessible.
-Professor of Health Humanities, Paul Crawford (Principal Investigator, What’s Up With Everyone?)
I have dedicated a lot of my life to working with young people and understanding their mental wellness in particular, which is why I’m delighted to be working closely with Aardman on this unique campaign. Through creating another avenue to help support the next generation of society, we hope that this campaign will really encourage young people to think about the world they live in and reflect on how they respond to it, so that they stay happy and healthy.
-Dr Dominique Thompson (Clinical Advisor, What’s Up With Everyone?)
It has never been more important to encourage people to understand what they can do to support their own and each other’s mental health. These resources will enable students to be at the heart of conversations about mental health and how we protect and improve it for generations to come.
-Dr David Crepaz-Keay, Head of Applied Learning at the Mental Health Foundation
Learn more about the campaign via their website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok