AdMental to tackle youth mental health
AdMental, now in its fourth year, is an event that asks Adelaide’s emerging advertising creatives to produce an advertisement to “sell” mental health and wellbeing.
This annual event brings together Adelaide Advertising and Design Club (AADC), SA Health’s Office of Public Health, Don Dunstan Foundation and the Mental Health Coalition of South Australia (MHCSA). Each year this team works on a brief that targets a specific message – with previous years covering mental illness, loneliness in older people and workplace mental health and wellbeing. This year the brief is youth mental health.
Young people have been impacted by COVID-19 more so than any other group with higher unemployment rates, impacts to study and socialisation. Experts predict these effects will last up to 5 years post the pandemic. So how do we help young people understand their mental health and find strategies to deal with its challenges?
Inspired by ‘The Pitch’ segment on the television show The Gruen Transfer, two of Adelaide’s emerging advertising creatives are tasked with producing an advertisement to promote youth mental health. The videos are then debuted to a live audience and an expert judging panel with the winner taking out the Geoff Robertson Memorial Award and a scholarship to the Advertising industry’s Award School.
This Year’s Emerging Creatives
Alice Reardon
“It was a new experience that came with a set of challenges but I loved it.”
Alice is a Flinders Uni student who took on the AdMental challenge to create a viral video on youth mental health. This YouTube video talks through the process and how AdMental evolved for Alice.
Dallas Rodgers
“When I saw the topic was about mental health that really engaged with me as I’m really passionate about it.”
Dallas is an Adelaide University media student who has taken on our challenge to address youth mental health at this year’s AdMental. Watch his video to hear his personal reflections on the AdMental challenge.
To be a part of the AdMental audience this year, head here.
This year we also have a new-look website which showcases all our previous ads. Check it out here.
The AdMental event Facebook page can be found here – click attending and invite your friends!