Topman

In 2017 Topman collaborated with Chris Hughes to raise awareness around depression in men and their tendency to bottle things up, launching with a provocative debut of “L’eau de Chris” – a premium mineral water bottle infused with Chris’ own tears to capture the attention of mainstream UK media and consumers. Topman created this drive because according to Mental health charity CALM in Britain suicide is the main cause of death for men under 45, with 75% of all suicides being male. For twenty-four hours after the launch, celebrity culture went crazy – everyone was talking about it with the media covering both the story, and the public’s reaction to it. Then, on World Mental Health Day at a press conference at Topman’s office, Chris revealed that “L’eau de Chris” was actually “Ludicrous”.

The tear-infused water bottle represented the research that showed 84% of men actively bottle up their emotions on a daily basis. It was here that Chris was officially announced as CALM’s newest ambassador and face of the #DontBottleItUp campaign, encouraging men to defy traditional norms of masculinity and talk openly about their emotions. Throughout the campaign, traffic to the CALM website dramatically increased by 485% fuelled by 95% new visitors and 18 times more 18-24 year olds visiting the site, showing the campaign succeeded in tackling a major barrier to addressing the issue. #DontBottleItUp delivered over 100 pieces of print, online and broadcast coverage, and had a total reach of over 3 billion across all social, OOH, digital display, and print channels.