This campaign by The Men’s Table encourages men to talk about their feelings and ‘go beyond banter’

Australia – In collaboration with independent advertising agency The Hallway, men’s mental health charity The Men’s Table has launched its new digital OOH campaign called ‘Go Beyond Banter’ that features a suite of ‘bantery’ executions that play on the tendency men have to talk about anything – sport, cars, fishing, holidays, their kids – other than their feelings.

In each execution, the audience can only see a man’s typical banter at first, then words fade away 10 seconds later revealing the man’s true feelings. The campaign’s call to action encourages the mentally healthier behaviour of going beyond banter, inviting men to attend a local Men’s Table. 

“If you can’t see what you’re doing, you can’t change what you’re doing. So we’re holding a mirror up to the common male behaviour of hiding our emotions in banter, and sharing the good news: that there’s a place to go to have much needed more meaningful conversations,” said Simon Lee, CCO and partner of The Hallway.

Ben Hughes, co-founder of The Men’s Table, also commented on the campaign, stating, “It was my own personal experience of having a deep need to talk about more than ‘just footy and shit’ that was the driver to start The Men’s Table. And our continued growth is proof that this is a need that is shared by many men.”

Hughes also said that the ‘Go Beyond Banter’ campaign captures the essence of what The Men’s Table is about, and shared that he has no doubt that it will resonate with the charity’s audience and encourage more men to join them.

Established as a not-for-profit in 2019 with the simple premise of getting men together around a table to open up and talk about what’s really going on for them, The Men’s Table provides a trusted peer support group environment for men to connect and engage in help-seeking and help-giving, for mental, emotional, and social wellbeing and community belonging.