‘How good are sickies?’: Koala campaign celebrates taking a day off
Mattress company Koala has launched a campaign to destigmatise taking a sickie for your mental health.
The campaign stars comedian Greta Lee Jackson narrating the Australian tradition of taking a sickie and making reference to Bob Hawke’s famous response to the nation taking the day off after the 1983 America’s Cup win.
The video also features the ‘Centre for Sickies’, a call centre based in the Koala offices that provides excuses for sickies to its callers, for them to pass onto their bosses.
Koala referenced the Australian Bureau of Statistics in its claim that a quarter of Australians experience a mental health condition at some point in their lives, but less than half of those seek help. The brand says taking time out from the pressures of work can improve mental health, even when a person is not aware of how sick they really are.
The campaign ends with the call to action: “The sickie is a way of life, and at Koala we’re celebrating staying in… stand up for lying down”.
It is the brand’s first in-house campaign that will integrate the TVC with out of home, radio and social.
Last year, Koala and its in-house creative team took aim at Ikea and the frustration of assembling its furniture, with a ‘Nofnidea’ billboard, that was later cleared by Ad Standards. The Ikea taunt followed Koala’s March billboard which asked passers by “Want longer lasting sleep?” based on the ’90s nasal spray advertisement that promised longer lasting sex.
…Koala found out the degree of difficulty doing engaging moving vs engaging still content.
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Like it
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This new advert seems to encourage breaking the law – is that wise, or appropriate?
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A brand shouting for attention at any cost!
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What a fucking piece of garbage campaign, I suffer from mental health problems and the last thing to do is encourage chucking a sickie to benefit mental health. The better option learn how to be a responsible adult and not fuck other people around by shunting your responsibilities. Don’t chuck a sickie, talk to your employer about taking on less responsibilities if you’re struggling and let them know that you’re not doing well. Jesus Christ, if you want to reduce the stigma then we should talk about these issues and not lie about what’s going on as this ad suggests. I will never buy anything from this company purely because of the insidious, bullshit attitude they’re promoting. You can fuck right off Koala!
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Very clever ad in the spirit of Gruen.
It assumes that people watching it are rational adults.
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What.
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