• by Sarah Mahoney , Yesterday

 
Days ahead of World Mental Health Day, ASICS is introducing a 10-minute documentaryhighlighting the risks of our increasingly digital lifestyle. Rather than focus on a rare grasshopper, sparrow or marmot, the faux-nature piece zeroes in on Janet, trapped in a cubicle, suffering endless Zoom meetings; Hannah, whose Sundays now revolve around binging TV shows she stopped enjoying three episodes ago; and Minato, who spends hours in a static digital reclining pose, trapped in the paralyzing grasp of his social media algorithm.

The film, narrated by actor Sigourney Weaver, highlights the ways modern digital life has created habitats that make moving increasingly difficult. The effort is linked to the company’s rallying cry, which is that as little as 15 minutes a day of activity brings significant psychological advantages.

A spokesperson for ASICS tells Marketing Daily it is promoting the project with an in-person screening in Malibu, California, hosted by meditation expert Megan Monahan.

For ASICS, the challenge isn’t so much reminding people of the connection between movement and mental health. It’s about reminding people that this is a space the company has owned since its founding decades ago: ASICS is an acronym for the Latin phrase Anima Sana In Corpore Sano, or a sound mind in a sound body.

ASICS may have been the first to claim that positioning, but it’s now become the familiar terrain of just about every athletic shoe brand, including giants like Nike, which has built mental health into the core pillars of holistic fitness, and Adidas’s stress-reducing “You got this” campaign. Apparel brand Lululemon also conducts large-scale mental health research. Up-and-comers like On are also building on psychological benefits, with actor and advocate Zendaya.

ASICS, based in Japan, says the film is based on new global research drawing on international guidelines for physical activity, including the World Health Organization, NHS England and U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines. Using self-reported movement, it sorts people into three categories: active (150+ minutes per week), at risk (30-149 minutes) and endangered (fewer than 30 minutes).

It reveals that people report spending 86% of their waking day in stillness, and 53% of adults fail to meet recommended physical activity guidelines. By 2035, that figure is projected to rise to 56%, roughly equivalent to 2.3 billion adults.

While the film is tongue-in-cheek, the research behind it is serious. The online survey included 34,000 people from 31 countries who self-reported their activity levels. Those in the “endangered” category score just 60 out of 100 in the State of Mind scores. For those in the active category, it’s 71. The active group is 23% more energized, 20% more composed, 17% more focused, and 16% less stressed than those in the endangered segment.

The problems are worse for the youngest people, with more than half (57%) of 18–24-year-olds saying they don’t meet recommended activity levels. And 92% acknowledge that inactivity impacts at least one key aspect of mental health, such as mood, stress and sleep.

“We’ve built a world that makes movement optional,” writes David Raichlen, professor of biology and anthropology at the University of Southern California, an academic involved in the project. “We can work, shop, socialize and be entertained without ever really moving -- and while that’s convenient, our bodies and minds still depend on regular movement to stay healthy.”