THE QUESTION THAT CHANGED 2.8M LIVES
Ad Council + Veterans Affairs Crisis Prevention
2024 Gold Jay Chiat Award
2025 2 Silver Effies
It’s not a secret that Veterans face higher risk for suicide and crisis than the 99% of Americans who don’t serve. But we found a unique way in to talk about it. Veterans, by nature and training, are heroically selfless—often putting the needs of others ahead of their own wellbeing. We explored this subject of selflessness from different angles over several years, and it continues to resonate with the Veteran community.
ROUND 1: THE QUESTION
Academy-Award winners Kathryn Bigelow and Mikkel E. G. Nielsen kicked off this multi-year project, “The Question” meditates on the difficulties of seeking support, and gives Veterans a nudge to take a proactive approach to mental health.
CASE STUDY
LONGFORM
ROUND 2: LOVED ONES
In this round of work, we worked with the VA to include resources on their site for the Loved Ones in Veterans’ lives. By focusing on their side of the story, we widened our audience, redefined what Bravery can mean and reached even more Veterans in the process.
ROUND 3: YOU ARE A VETERAN
We realized through our research with Veterans that along with selflessness, there’s also an Imposter Syndrome that runs through the Veteran community. No matter how, or how long, a Vet has served, they’re hesitant to seek help because they don’t want to use resources that other Vets might need more than they do. It was powerful to see Vets who have sought assistance help others to see the light.
