It’s not what you would normally expect from us. The “Start Living” campaign featured a eulogy, gravestone, and funeral notices, all with the intention of encouraging us to stop worrying about our bodies, and to Start Living.
Aimed at parents, the idea was to use death as a confronting way to reflect on how we live now, and how we think we will be remembered. Most of us remember the connections, experiences, and contributions that the people in our lives make- much more than how ‘perfect’ they look.
“Many people, and particularly women, spend much of their lives worrying about the way they look, and it holds them back from doing the things that make their lives worth living,” says Taryn Brumfitt, who headed up the campaign alongside the creative agency Showpony.
Showpony Associate Creative Director, Abby Moulton adds: “The truth is, the size of our jeans isn’t etched into gravestones. Instead it’s the things that really matter – how we make people feel, the memories we share, the kindness, the joy, the laughs”.
The majority of women want to change something about the way they look, and this costs them their time, money, energy, and memories. Research shows that body dissatisfaction impacts on mental and physical and health outcomes, risk-taking behaviour, substance abuse, and education and career outcomes.
Unknowingly, many of us pass on negative attitudes about our bodies and appearance, by the things that we say about our own, and others’ appearance. The comments we make serve up messages about the importance of our weight and appearance to the next generation.
We’ve been talking to parents about this topic for years. But in order to reach new parents who weren’t necessarily across this topic already, we needed something that would cut through.
And that’s how we found ourselves in a church filming a fake funeral- for work!
And it worked- in the first month of the Start Living campaign, the campaign video was played 2 million times, with over 10 million impressions of the campaign assets.
But why did we take this approach?
There is actually some research that shows that reflecting on death can help people, especially women, embrace their bodies beyond societal beauty standards, and re-prioritise our life. Similar to having a ‘near – death experience’, this can help people come back to their values and reflect what is really important.
After viewing the campaign, parents were encouraged to download the Flip the Script PDF Guide, that covers what to say to our kids about bodies, food, and weight in order to stop the cycle of passing on our body image issues to the next generation. Want to see what we suggest? Download the guide here.
If you are concerned about your own, or someone else’s body image and eating behaviours, call the Butterfly Helpline on (1800 334 763). For more general mental health support, contact the Beyond Blue Support Service. Call a counsellor on 1300 22 4636 or visit beyondblue.org.au
