The “LG” in LG Electronics USA stands for “Life’s Good,” but life can certainly be better for student-athletes when it comes to their rates of mental exhaustion, anxiety and depression, according to an NCAA survey.
So LG is doing its part to improve the situation with “Game4Good,” a mental health awareness campaign.
“As a global brand, it is important for us to use our platform to help foster meaningful conversations around critical issues that impact people every day, and mental health is one of the areas that needs to be amplified, especially among younger generations,” Jeannie Lee, LG’s director of corporate marketing, tells Marketing Daily. “Through the Game4Good initiative, we hope to further open dialogues and help eliminate the stigma around this issue.”
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Launched to coincide with March Madness, of which LG is an official partner, the new campaign is highlighted by a :30 video created by Allied Sports agency.
In the spot, four players from men’s and women’s teams -- including #1 seeds Stanford (women’s) and Houston (men’s) -- recite “A Letter Written With Love,” addressed “to the ones who feel the pressure in March.” It ends, “Whether it’s your first dance or your last, play your game, not theirs. Don’t lose yourself.”
The ad -- running on websites and social channels of LG, the NCAA and the athletes themselves -- ends with an on-screen graphic reading, “LG proudly supports student-athlete mental health and wellness. Learn more at LG.com/NCAA.”
LG is also donating$10,000 to each athlete’s mental health-related charity of choice: Katie’s Saves for Stanford’s Haley Jones; the National Alliance of Mental Illness for Houston’s Jarace Walker; Reach for Youth for Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis; and the Frank Callen Boys and Girls Club of Savannah, Georgia for Louisiana State’s Flau'Jae Johnson.
Game4Good is hardly LG’s first foray with the NCAA into mental health awareness. Last fall, the electronics company launched “Transparent Conversations,” a podcast exploring mental wellness within athletics and academia hosted by former Duke tennis player and ESPN anchor Prim Siripipat. At the NCAA tournament, LG is taping new episodes of the show featuring student athletes, mental health experts and faculty administrators.
"Mental Health" paired with the term "Madness"...is that a good thing or insensitive? Discuss.