PARIS, FRANCE — “Depression is for the weak.” Yet in 2024, one in five young people suffer from depressive disorders. However, for them, the subject of mental health is taboo: “We all have a bit of this complex about therapists, it’s not always well seen to go to them,” explained Orelsan to Yard/Vice back in 2017.
And while initiatives to break the silence are multiplying, popular culture continues to perpetuate stereotypes and keep young people silent. These young people, the drivers of the Heetch VTC brand, encounter them every day: they pick them up from parties and take them to work on tough days. And sometimes these young people, especially those from disadvantaged neighborhoods, need to confide: “We listen to them and the dialogue is created quite easily, we feel that they want to talk without feeling judged” Karim, driver for Heetch since 2019, shared. “Perhaps knowing that we are focused on the road and cannot look at them directly helps them feel more comfortable talking to us about their lives and their problems.”
Tweet 2: “My Heetch driver is like my own therapist he knows my whole life”
Tweet 3: “Heetch drivers >> my best therapy sessions”
“When we saw all the testimonials from young people on social media saying that they tended to confide in our drivers, we thought with our agency BETC that we should take advantage of this dialogue that was naturally taking place and the fact that 70% of our users are under 30 to take it one step further: if young people don’t go to therapists, then we’ll bring therapists to them,” explained Renaud Berthe, CMO at Heetch.
That’s why Heetch, on an idea from its agency BETC, partners with the Foundation Falret – committed to the French mental health since 1841 – to launch “First Conversation.” This a concrete initiative to raise awareness among young people about mental health issues and promote the liberation of speech.
From March 28 to 31, 2024, psychologists and mental health ambassadors from the Foundation Falret will board Heetch VTCs and accompany young people so they can have a first contact with a professional during a ride.
“Today, the average duration of diagnostic wandering is about 10 years, and the later the care is provided, the longer the path to recovery will be. Destigmatizing, promoting early detection of young people, and guiding them is what we want to convey to young people,” explained Sandrine Broutin, CEO of the Foundation Falret.
“Since Covid and successive lockdowns, the mental health of young people has become a subject the media talks about, but it is difficult to provide concrete solutions to. With First Conversation, Heetch is implementing a real, useful service that, beyond the presence of psychologists, will be long-lasting with the training of drivers in active listening,” said Olivier Aumard, Executive Creative Director at BETC.
And while these moments of exchange aboard a VTC will never replace consultations in a therapist’s office as part of therapy, the goal is to raise awareness among young people about mental health issues and, above all, the necessity of speaking up when not feeling well.
The first step towards awareness and the normalization of an act that young people often tend to dramatize.
Credits:
Operation: First Conversation
Brand: Heetch
Brand Managers: Renaud Berthe, Hector Gruyer, Benjamin Sousa
Ad Agency: BETC Paris
Agency Managers: Mathieu Laugier, Aude Devaux, Lara Lefort
Chief Creative Officer: Stephane Xiberras
Executive Creative Director: Olivier Aumard
Copywriter: Guillaume Denis
Art Director: Matthieu Hamon
Creative Resources Coordinator: Nathalie Sanseigne
Agency Producer: Sebastien Lintingre
Production Company: Sovage
Director: Julian Nodolwsky
