Carman Creative
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// L03 — Advertising / Campaign

Stamp Out Stigma

Mental health is just as important as physical health.

ClientBeacon Health Options
RoleCreative lead — campaign concept, messaging, and OOH design
Year2023
ScopeAwareness campaign, out-of-home creative
DeliverablesTimes Square activation creative
Scroll / Case study
Stamp Out Stigma — cover

// The brief

A national mental health awareness initiative staged in Times Square, designed to spark conversation and reduce stigma around mental illness — reinforcing that mental health matters as much as physical health, and that sharing personal stories helps others feel seen and supported.

// The challenge

A national mental-health awareness effort needed to cut through one of the busiest environments on earth — Times Square — and get people to treat mental health as seriously as physical health, without sensationalizing it.

A large-format, high-visibility placement with only seconds to communicate, a sensitive subject, and a broad, diverse audience moving fast.

// The work

Stamp Out Stigma on the Times Square screens — the 1 in 5 creative on the PR Newswire board at Seventh Avenue, with the Hard Rock and Europa Cafe signs around it
The real buy: the campaign on the PR Newswire screens at Seventh Avenue, one honest message holding its own in the loudest advertising environment in the world.
The creative
Stamp Out Stigma — the campaign creative: 1 in 5 U.S. adults will be affected by mental illness each year. 43.8 million people. Talk about it. Your story could change a life.
On the screen
Stamp Out Stigma — the creative on the main screen, flanked by the campaign message on the boards above and beside it
The creative up close — one statistic, one face, one direct ask: talk about it. And the same frame on the screen, with the hashtags and the Beacon mark carrying it into the room.

// The mandate

Create out-of-home creative that lands instantly in a fast-moving, high-noise space while carrying real emotional weight.

// John's role

  • ↳Directed the campaign concept and messaging
  • ↳Designed the out-of-home creative for legibility at a glance

Worked with

  • ↳Beacon Health Options campaign stakeholders
  • ↳A collaborative campaign effort

// Key decisions

01

Clarity over spectacle

Strong typography, restrained color, and honest imagery so the message reads in seconds — without tipping into sensationalism on a sensitive subject.

02

Put the message where silence usually wins

Placing an honest mental-health message in one of the most public spaces on earth challenges the stigma directly, in front of everyone.

03

Lead with human emotion

Real stories and grounded imagery over statistics — normalizing the conversation by making it human, not clinical.

// The outcome

  • ↳Amplified national mental-health awareness from one of the most public stages in the world — Times Square
  • ↳Reinforced a simple, hard message: mental health matters as much as physical health

// Reflection

Putting an honest mental-health message in Times Square was a reminder that clarity and empathy can cut through even the loudest room.

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