How has the Bell Let’s talk movement through social media activism impacted Canadians living with mental health?
The ways in which Bell Let’s Talk Marketing Skills Link To The Creation Towards Media and/or Internet Addiction.
How has the Bell Let’s talk movement through social media activism impacted Canadians living with mental health?
Every year Bell donates $100,695,763.75 towards mental health institutions through the Bell Let’s Talk foundation, but does the work Bell does through their social media activism help Canadians living with mental health disabilities? There have been many theories that Bell’s Let’s Talk campaign does not focus on the main purpose of the campaign but rather focuses on the needs and successes of their own company. This essay will consist of the invalidation of the Bell Let’s Talk campaign through the use of it’s marketing and creating a media and/or internet addiction through logos, ethos, and pathos.
Although there has been lots of positive publicity for Bell on their Bell Let’s Talk campaign, many people would argue otherwise. For instance in the article written by the National Post they argue that Bell is more about marketing rather than mental health. The reason they suggest this is because advertisers can target users online when they open up about their personal mental health experiences, additionally a statement written by a masters student that has been published in the National Post article states that “Bell is a service provider receiving a financial award in exchange for the publicity of the campaign,” (Vido, 2019) She further writes how “Breast cancer marketing has become a widespread form of promotion due to the fact that companies can show compassion for a cause while catering to the interests and desires of modern consumers,” (Vido, 2019) which supports the statement written by Bobby Hristove that Bell is targeting a personal topic for an important cause. The use of ethos through the perspective of the article written by the National Post on the Bell Let’s Talk campaign has been displayed by speaking on how Bell Let’s talk appears to support those who suffer with mental illness but their underlying goal is to help the growth of their company and to make people believe that they are more than just a service provider. In the article “Modes Of Persuasion” (n.d), logos in advertising is described as convincing people to invest money and/or time intro many things such as products and services. The use of logos through the perspective of the article has been displayed when Vido speaks upon how “Bell is a service provider receiving a financial award in exchange for the publicity of the campaign” (Vido, 2019). This displays how logos in advertising has been used through the advertising of their campaign because the service provider Bell uses logos to convince people to invest time and/or time into a product, or service. In the article “Modes Of Persuasion” (n.d), ethos in advertising is described as “Establishing credibility when attempting to call an audience to an action, such as buying a product” (pathosethoslogos, n.d). The way that ethos is presented in the article through the credibility when calling an audience to buying a product through the wide range of ways in which the campaign is attempting to promote like the products that Bell may promote through the information gathered during Bell Let’s Talk day when people open up about their mental health struggles. In the article “Modes Of Persuasion” (n.d), pathos in advertising is described as “the author is trying to create sympathy from the audience; to make the audience feel what what the author wants them to feel” (pathosethoslogos, n.d). The use of pathos through the perspective of the article has been displayed through the author explaining how the Bell Let’s Talk movement has impacted Canadians living with mental illness negatively and has also explained a way in which Canadians can partake in the Bell Let’s Talk campaign without essentially having the harm of the Bell Let’s Talk campaign. In contrary to the negative factors of the marketing, there are positives towards the marketing for example 610,148 Canadians supported through technology-based mental health programs (Bell Let’s Talk, 2019). This is important because this number of Canadians who have support Bell Let’s Talk through technology-based mental health programs shows how Bell Let’s Talk’s marketing skills have impacted Canadians who suffer with mental illness get support through mental health programs.
Moreover it is said that Bell Let’s Talk is creating a media and/or internet addiction. This is spoken about in the article “Dear Bell, let’s talk about how you’re part of the mental health problem” (Robertson, 2017) this is explained in the article when Robertson speaks about how social media / internet addiction are all activities that bell promotes / sells could be causing harm to people. Subsequently, in the article it also speaks about how the author Kate Robertson “best ways I’ve improved my own mental health in the last year reducing screen time and using those hours for something more tangible. After you’ve helped the #BellLetsTalk cause with a few tweets — because this campaign raises money for wonderful organizations people badly need — I highly recommend it.” subsequently this statement explains how to effectively help the purpose that Bell Let’s Talk creates while not being negatively impacted by the negativity Bell Let’s Talk creates. In the article “Modes Of Persuasion” (n.d), pathos in advertising is described as “Authors use pathos to invoke sympathy from an audience; to make the audience feel what what the author wants them to feel” (pathosethoslogos, n.d). The use of pathos through the perspective of the article has been displayed through the author explaining how in her beliefs Bell has been impacting Canadians negatively through the use of their social media activism, making the audience feel what she feels through the use of pathos. In the article “Modes Of Persuasion” (n.d), logos in advertising is described as convincing people to invest money and/or time intro many things such as products and services. The use of logos through the perspective of the article has been displayed when the author Kate Robertson tells the audience to go through the Bell Let’s Talk day “Successfully” trying to persuade the audience to investing time into how to spend the Bell Let’s Talk Day. In the article “Modes Of Persuasion” (n.d), ethos in advertising is described as “Establishing credibility when attempting to call an audience to an action, such as buying a product” (pathosethoslogos, n.d). The way that ethos is presented in the article when the author Kate Robertson describes how to experience a “proper” Bell Let’s Talk day while not getting negatively affected by the impact that the Bell Let’s Talk campaign has. Despite how the author Roberston feels towards Bell Let’s Talk and the way their campaign effects Canadians negatively, there are stats that show that a large amount of Canadians have been effected positively through the use of Bell Let’s Talk. In the Bell Let’s Talk article it states that Bell has helped over 3,409,680 Canadians receive access to mental health services. This is important because although some people may be negatively affected by the Bell Let’s Talk campaign over 3 million Canadians have benefited from it.
To conclude, every year Bell donates $100,695,763.75 towards mental health institutions through the Bell Let’s Talk foundation, but does the work Bell does through their social media activism help Canadians living with mental health disabilities? There have been many theories that Bell’s Let’s Talk campaign does not focus on the main purpose of the campaign but rather focuses on the needs and successes of their own company. This essay has consisted of the invalidation of the Bell Let’s Talk campaign through the use of it’s marketing and creating a media and/or internet addiction through logos, ethos, and pathos. Although there has been many reasons as to why Bell Let’s Talk is considered to be negative there will also be positives and it is up to you how you the reader can take this information and use it in your everyday life and during the Bell Let’s Talk day.
References
Vido, J. (2019). A critical investigation of Bell Let’s Talk. [online] Scholarship at UWindsor. Available at: https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/major-papers/74/
User, S. (n.d.). Home - Ethos, Pathos, and Logos, the Modes of Persuasion ‒ Explanation and Examples. [online] Pathosethoslogos.com. Available at: https://pathosethoslogos.com
Letstalk.bell.ca. (2019). Results and impact | Bell Let's Talk. [online] Available at: https://letstalk.bell.ca/en/results-impact/
Robertson, K. (2019). Dear Bell, let's talk about how you're part of the mental health problem. [online] Available at; https://nowtoronto.com/news/think-free-blog/bell-let-s-talk-day-part-of-the-mental-health-problem/
