Norwich City Football Club promotes mental health awareness in this effective, affecting video, released for World Mental Health Day 2023

To borrow a sporting metaphor, this campaign film from Norwich City Football Club masterfully wrong-foots the viewer in order to get across an important message.

This short video, created by the club’s in-house marketing team in consultation with the Samaritans suicide prevention charity, focuses on two season ticket-holding neighbours who meet in the stands, week-in week-out, to watch the Canaries play. Through a montage of wins and losses across the season, the two are side-by-side, and we observe their contrasting personalities: one man is quiet and withdrawn, while the other is effusive, extroverted.

Then, an intertitle disrupts the routine – “At times it can be obvious when someone is struggling to cope" – and an empty seat is revealed. But it is the quieter man left alone in the stands. “Sometimes, the signs are harder to spot.” Rich in meaning yet clear in intent, the video ends on a simple message that underscores the importance of connection and solidarity: “Check in on those around you.”

Released online on World Mental Health Day in 2023, the video was watched by over 300 million viewers in 150 countries – a testament to how online video can carry a message around the world.