• by Les Luchter , September 4, 2024

Let’s talk about the bravery of U.S. military members.

The issue has been in the news lately because of former President Trump’s statement last month that the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for bravery in combat, is less commendable than the Presidential Medal of Freedom given to civilians.

Now, the Veterans Administration and Ad Council are redefining bravery itself in the latest installment of their three-year-old “Don’t Wait. Reach Out” suicide prevention campaign.

“Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is ask for help,” states a PSA that features testimonials from real veterans, friends and family members.

Another PSA features music group The War and Treaty’s husband-wife duo Tanya Trotter and veteran Michael Trotter Jr. sharing how Tanya’s support of Michael seeking help helped inspire their 2020 song “Five More Minutes.”

Both PSAs, available in various lengths, were created pro bono by GSDM, with Andre Muir directing in partnership with production house Smuggle. Muir has previously worked with the Ad Council on its long-running “Love Has No Labels” inclusion campaign.

In addition to distribution of the spots across the Ad Council’s network of more than 1,850 broadcast stations, the campaign also includes out-of-home, print and digital.

The ads urge veterans to visit the resource-rich Va.gov/REACH, a site designed by communications firm Reingold.

The Ad Council says that the site has received more than 4.5 million visits since 2021, and that the campaign has garnered roughly $81 million in donated media support from such media as Fox, Metal, Reddit, Twitch, Yahoo and YouTube.

GSD&M also worked on last year’s "Don't Wait. Reach Out" campaign, whose Kathryn Bigelow-directed spots featured a diverse range of veterans reflecting on the difficulties of asking for support.

“Don’t Wait, Reach Out” is now part of the Ad Council’s $65 million, seven-year Mental Health Initiative, which launched in 2022.

It’s also part of the VA’s 10-year strategy to end veteran suicide through community prevention and clinical intervention strategies, which launched in 2018.