Can we talk?

As I have written in the past, mental healthcare is the main line of business for my family. My older brother and my sister are psychologists, following in the footsteps of my father – a psychiatrist – to help others.

Bell Let’s Talk Day is about talking. It is a day for talking about something that makes many people uncomfortable. And as I wrote last year, we need to talk even more. Public perception is the leading reason that most of those living with a mental illness do not seek help. Bell’s willingness to have its brand associated with helping Canadians deal with mental illness is a brave and bold statement to open the national conversation about mental health.

This year’s ad campaign highlights the need to watch the way we talk. Bell will contribute 5 cents for every Text message sent and every mobile & long distance call made on their networks. And they will add another nickle for every Tweet using #BellLetsTalk and every Facebook image share – even if you are not a Bell customer.

Last year, that came to nearly 110M texts, calls, tweets and shares, raising just under $5.5M.

There were 3 million tweets last year, making “Bell Let’s Talk” the #1 Twitter trend in Canada and #3 worldwide.

Let’s aim to beat last year’s totals.

Communications competitors TELUS, Rogers and Wind Mobile have added their support to the Bell initiative on Twitter: