Burger King's "real meals" are not limited to McDonald's. They concern mental health.

"All I ask is that you let me feel my way."

This is the refrain of a new mental health awareness video. The unlikely source? Burger King.

The fast food giant is not the first company to associate marketing with a serious social problem. But he makes his new selection of "Real Meals" – so named after "real" atmospheres such as blue, salty and seductive – an irreverent discussion topic on the often stigmatized topic of mental health and the couple with a video that addresses such topics as bullying, teen pregnancy and student debt.

Although the campaign may not encourage everyone to ask for help, according to experts, it could spark conversations around depression, anxiety, and anxiety. other disorders, particularly among adolescents and young adults.

Mental Health America, which has collaborated in this effort, has typically forged partnerships with health sector organizations, such as insurance companies or pharmaceutical companies "who see this every day," said Paul Gionfriddo, President and CEO of the group. "For companies outside this space that put this type of message on mental health, it is priceless."

The centerpiece of the campaign is a short video with glimpses of people asking "let me feel like I'm doing it". In the first frame, a young man sitting on the edge of his bed, head down, says, "Not everyone wakes up happy, sometimes you feel sad, scared, crappy."

The executives alternate between a teenager bullied at school. A young woman who packs her bags and says that her "boss is such a monster." A man does not know how he will repay his student loans. A young mother who said that she was not old enough to raise her daughter.

According to Mental Health America, more than 44 million American adults suffer from some form of mental illness and youth rates are rising.

Gionfriddo said more than 3,000 people use the MHA's online mental health screening program every day. Of this total, one-third are teenagers aged 11 to 17 and another third are 18 to 24 years old. Working with brands such as Burger King – "a business that caters to young people and young people consult for reasons other than their mental health concerns" – could contribute to the destigmatization of mental health issues and encourage people to get help earlier in life, he said. .

"These things start at the bottom of the pool – it's intimidation, it's abuse, it's negligence," said Gionfriddo. "All the people who are going to have bad results are part of this group of people who deal with the type of issues raised here."

Celebrities have also played a role in raising awareness about mental health. On Thursday morning, Alex Trebek, host of "Jeopardy!", Who battles pancreatic cancer at stage 4, said the chemotherapy had resulted in "deep and deep sadness". I am really depressed today and I do not know why. Other public figures – from Lady Gaga to Catherine Zeta-Jones to JK Rowling to Jon Hamm to Kristen Bell – also talked about their own difficulties.

Burger King's messages often speak to McDonald's trolls (who, let's note, run the Ronald McDonald House for families with sick children). "Real meals" are not so subtle a "happy meal" for children. Guests can choose between a blue meal, a salty meal, a YAAAS meal and more, although they simply combine a Whopper, fries and a drink. (Meals are only available at select restaurants in Seattle, New York, Los Angeles, Austin, Texas and Miami Beach.)

Burger King's messaging also touched on previously taboo topics. In 2017, an announcement by Burger King called on people to speak out against bullying – and asked them to decide whether they would intervene or remain silent. A three-minute video showed a child victim of bullying in a Burger King restaurant, watched by most other guests. Yet, when it was a "bullied whopper" – which had been crushed by an employee before being served – almost all clients stood up for to complain.

From a marketing standpoint, brands had the habit of coming together around significant issues with "more rhetoric than reality," said Beth Egan, an advertising professor at Syracuse University. But Egan feared that advertising hurt, rather than help. The video "went straight to the negative and gave up hope," she said.

"Watching the video, I figured that if I felt really depressed, I did not know I would feel better," Egan said. "And I'm not sure I'd feel better after eating a Whopper either!"

Nevertheless, Burger King "is really good at attracting attention," said Jonathan Maze, editor of Restaurant Business Magazine. The strategy is simple: find out what your customers are talking about (and take a quick look at McDonald's).