Campaign uses giant smartphone displays for suicide awareness

A suicide awareness group is drawing attention to its cause by placing digital displays that resemble smartphones across the country

Spotted: In the UK, the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) has launched an eye-catching campaign featuring large, interactive digital displays that resemble smartphones.  The “Call for Help” campaign aims to break stigmas around mental health.

The screens’ purpose is to show how frequent the CALM helpline receives calls. They are connected to the live helpline. A loud ringtone will alert those nearby when a call is incoming and will then display “call in progress.” The displays have been placed in London, Manchester and Birmingham.

“In 2018 we directly prevented 675 suicides, and we aim to further open up the conversation around mental health and suicide, empowering more people to best support their own wellbeing and that of those around them,” CALM’s chief executive Simon Gunning told thedrum.com.

The CALM helpline gets over 200 calls per day. To raise awareness in the past, CALM has experimented with other bold awareness campaigns, including one that used 84 mannequins and put them on the ledges of London’s ITV Southbank buildings.