MONTREAL – The world's biggest conversation about mental health, Bell Let's Talk Day, will take place this year on January 31, 2018.
The 2018 Bell Let's Talk Day awareness campaign kicked off Friday on sports networks TSN and RDS featuring Canadians from around the country sharing their own experiences with mental illness. The campaign will also appear across multiple Canadian media and other organizations, including television networks; social media and other online platforms, radio and print; billboards and other out-of-home advertising; and in movie theatres with Cineplex, Cinémas Guzzo and the Hot Docs documentary film festival.
On Bell Let's Talk Day, millions of people in Canada and around the world send messages of support and encouragement for those struggling with mental illness, share their own stories and offer ideas about how we can improve everyone's mental health.
Bell will donate 5 cents to Canadian mental health programs for each of these interactions on January 31, at no extra cost to participants:
- Text and talk: Every text message, mobile and long distance call made by Bell Canada, Bell Aliant and, new this year, Bell MTS customers in Manitoba
- Twitter: Every tweet using #BellLetsTalk and Bell Let's Talk Day video view
- Facebook: Every view of the Bell Let's Talk Day video at Facebook.com/BellLetsTalk and use of the Bell Let's Talk frame
- Instagram: Every Bell Let's Talk Day video view
- Snapchat: Every use of the Bell Let's Talk geofilter and video view
Bell Let's Talk Day 2017 set all new records with 131,705,010 messages, growing Bell's funding for Canadian mental health by $6,585,250.50. #BellLetsTalk was Canada's top hashtag in 2017, and is now the most used Twitter hashtag ever in Canada.
Since launching in 2010, Bell Let's Talk has supported organizations providing mental health care and services in every region of Canada. Focused on 4 key action pillars – anti-stigma, care and access, research and workplace leadership – Bell Let's Talk programs include major donations to hospitals, universities and other care and research organizations across Canada and dedicated programs the Bell Let's Talk Community Fund for local community mental health organizations; the Bell True Patriot Love Fund for military members, veterans and their families; a fund supporting mental health care in Canada's Territories; and most recently a new fund dedicated to Indigenous mental health in Manitoba, launched alongside the creation of Bell MTS with a donation to Winnipeg's Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre.
