Man Therapy Goes Down Under With Australian Version Of The Campaign

DENVER, June 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- An Australian version of Man Therapy, the innovative, humorous and award-sweeping men's mental health campaign is launching as a national awareness campaign Down Under today. Man Therapy was originally developed by Cactus, a Denver based advertising agency, the Carson J. Spencer Foundation and the Colorado Office of Suicide Prevention. The campaign uses humor and a no nonsense approach to cut through stigma and get guys to deal with their mental health head on.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130605/LA26848)

beyondblue, the leading Australian organization dedicated to men's mental health, and the Australian Department of Health and Aging are launching the multi-million dollar campaign across all media including television, radio, print, social media and online. The Australian campaign is an Aussie take on the Man Therapy campaign that was launched in July, 2012 in the US. Man Therapy Australia features Dr. Brian Ironwood, a protege of Dr. Rich Mahogany and is built around the mantherapy.org.au website with culturally relevant references and resources.

"In developing Man Therapy, we uncovered universal truths about men's mental health that are not just relevant to a broad range of guys here in the United States, but that also transcend boarders and cultures and resonate with men around the world," notes Joe Conrad, CEO of Cactus and strategic architect of Man Therapy. "At Cactus, we are committed to producing meaningful work that makes a huge impact. It is an enormous honor to see our efforts around men's mental health move on to an international stage and play a role in this important and timely global cause."

After seeing the success of the Man Therapy model in the U.S., beyondblue conducted an extensive research study to test the effectiveness of the Man Therapy website in helping Australian men with mental illnesses.  The results were overwhelmingly positive and provided the evidence beyondblue needed to license the campaign and work with Cactus to create an Australian version. Australia's Department of Health and Aging is funding the Man Therapy Australia campaign.

The U.S. version of Man Therapy features Dr. Rich Mahogany, a man's man who is dedicated to cutting through the stigma with a fresh approach using his rapier wit, no nonsense approach and practical advice for men. The centerpiece of the campaign is the mantherapy.org website, where men find they have a virtual appointment with Dr. Mahogany. Visitors can navigate through Dr. Mahogany's office and find useful information about men's mental health, take the 18-point head inspection and receive a list of therapies they should consider. He is the world's hardest working therapist, and his office is open 24/7/365 where he sees an average of 5 people at any one time.

Since the campaign launched in July 2012, mantherapy.org has had 212,000 total visitors averaging 5:43 minutes on the site. A total of 29,000 people have taken the 18-point head inspection and have been given advice and recommendations to consider.  Of the men completing the self-assessment, 90 percent have reported that they are very likely or likely to take the advice and recommendation prescribed in their exam results.

Man Therapy Australia release: http://bit.ly/ManTherapyAU

Man Therapy: http://www.mantherapy.org

Man Therapy Australia: http://mantherapy.org.au

Cactus
Cactus is a full-service brand communications agency providing business solutions for companies and causes through brand strategy, advertising, design, interactive and media services. Cactus has been nationally recognized for its breakthrough creative executions by The One Show, Communication Arts, The Webby Awards, South by Southwest, Favourite Website Awards, Advertising Age, Creativity and Print's Regional Design Annual. To learn more about Cactus, visit http://www.cactusdenver.com  

Colorado Office of Suicide Prevention

Office of Suicide Prevention, a legislatively mandated entity of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, charged with serving as the lead entity for statewide suicide prevention and intervention efforts, collaborating with Colorado communities to reduce the number of suicide deaths and attempts in the state.

Carson J Spencer Foundation

The Carson J Spencer Foundation is a Colorado-based 501(c)(3) organization which delivers innovative and effective suicide prevention programs for working-aged people, coaches young leaders to develop social enterprises for mental health promotion and suicide prevention, and supports people bereaved by suicide.

CONTACT: Mike Lee, +1-303-455-7545, mike@sharpideas.com

SOURCE Cactus