Suicide is the single biggest killer of men under the age of 45 in the UK. 75% of all suicides are male. A man kills himself every 2 hours. 12 lives are lost every single day. The statistics go on and on. Despite this, suicide remains a stigmatised, silent killer which is not talked about in the media, with many men feeling unable to reach out for the help they so desperately need. We needed to find a way to get people to truly understand the severity of the problem, destigmatise the issue, and raise awareness around the vital support available.

By logging and mirroring the number of calls received by the helpline in real time, showcasing how many people are opening up and receiving support from CALM every day, we hoped to remove the stigma of calling for help and encourage men to reach out. Due to the fact helplines are often anonymous and confidential, there hasn’t been a public demonstration of its functioning before – you may hear reported singular stories or recordings, but never see the pace or prevalence of the calls.

We needed to find an innovative way to make the scale and immediacy of male suicide a national talking point, stopping the public in their tracks. Rather than simply publicising the fact that 200 people contact the helpline every evening, the scale and severity of which is difficult to visualise, we wanted to show them, turning the statistic back into people by highlighting each real call individually as a reminder that a real person is on the other end of the line.

Situated in London, Manchester and Birmingham, the series of OOH digital displays were connected live to CALM’s free and anonymous helpline. Upon receipt and acceptance of a call by the helpline staff, the OOH activated, alerting passers-by with a loud ringtone to capture their attention, and demonstrating in real time the prevalence of men calling for help every evening. Through this innovative live link, we aimed to demonstrate the immediacy and severity of the issue, and ultimately empower those in crisis to pick up the phone, and others to join our campaign against living miserably. The campaign also directed people to the website where they were able to find stories of individuals helped by CALM, and ways in which they can ensure no call for help goes unanswered in their immediate social circles.

The campaign stopped people in their tracks and got people talking throughout London, Birmingham and Manchester. Furthermore, the campaign was shared via social media and achieved an additional earned media reach of 31,000, extending the conversation and raising awareness around the issue even further afield.