McDonald's Apologizes For Big Mac 'You're Not Alone' Ad Parodying Mental Health PSA (PHOTO)

April 16, 2013

The Huffington Post  |  By Ron Dicker Posted: 04/10/2013 4:38 pm EDT  |  Updated: 04/11/2013 3:01 pm EDT

This wasn't the Big Mac attack that McDonald's had in mind.

After a super-size backlash, the fast-food giant has apologized for a Big Mac print ad that parodies mental health outreach, Time reports. McDonald's says it didn't approve the spot in the first place.

The poster was featured recently on Boston mass transit and shows a woman, clearly in anguish, accompanied by the words "You're Not Alone. Millions of people love the Big Mac." A help line listed below the ad reportedly connects to McDonald’s corporate line.

SCROLL DOWN TO SEE THE AD.

The restaurant emailed the following statement to The Huffington Post:

A local print ad displayed on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) was recently brought to our attention. We can confirm this ad was not approved by McDonald’s. And, as soon as we learned about it, we asked that it be taken down immediately. We have an approval process in place, with our marketing and advertising agencies, to ensure that all advertising content is consistent with our brand values. Regrettably, in this incident, our agency did not follow that process.

Pam Hamlin, president of Arnold, the ad house that produced the poster, confirmed in a statement sent to HuffPost that McDonald's had not approved, and that the ad was an "unintended error."

A few days before the Big Mac bustup, the ad was tweeted around by Boston commuters. Then, Minding the Workplace blogger David Yamadacalled out McDonald's for mocking those who need mental health counseling. He wrote there are too many depressed -- even suicidal -- people for the ad to be funny.

While some commenters at Universal Hub said Yamada was being overly sensitive, AdWeek pointed out the hazards of any company poking fun at mental health issues. The trade publication cited 7-Eleven's Facebook post in 2011: "May is Mental Health Month..or so the SHADOWY CONSPIRATORS WHO CONTROL THE WORLD would have you believe." The convenience chain took it down in a hurry.

What do you think of this Big Mac ad? Let us know in the comments, or tweet us @HuffPostBiz.

Link to the story on the Huffington Post

Our Response written by Susan Rogers

April 12, 2013

Don Thompson, President and CEO

McDonald's Corporation

2111 McDonald's Drive

Oak Brook, IL 60523

Dear Mr. Thompson:

I am writing to thank McDonald’s for publicly disowning its insensitive “You Are Not Alone” ad campaign, which parodied outreach campaigns to individuals with mental health conditions (such as major depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia) and/or substance use conditions. As many others have commented, this campaign showed terrible insensitivity to individuals (such as myself) who are struggling with these painful challenges.

Perhaps even more to the point, many Americans have food addictions, and their difficulty avoiding sugar, excess salt (a Big Mac has nearly a thousand milligrams of sodium, nearly half the RDA), and excess fat (a Big Mac has 29 grams of fat) has contributed, in many instances, to their premature disability and death.

Ideally, instead of a mere apology, McDonald’s might demonstrate its contrition by sponsoring public service announcements highlighting the fact that the vast majority of people can and do recover from even the most serious mental health conditions and live meaningful and productive lives in the community. This would help counter the enormous amount of discrimination and stigma associated with mental health conditions.

Again, thank you for publicly disowning the “You’re Not Alone” campaign. If you have any questions, please contact me at srogers@mhasp.org or 267-507-3812.

Sincerely,

Susan Rogers

Director of Special Projects

The Sequester: A Mental-Health Crisis

Among the vulnerable populations Friday's automatic cuts affect, the mentally ill will be among the hardest hit. 

If you've been reading The New York Times, The Washington Post and hearing statements by Republicans denouncing the sequester "hype," you may have been lulled into thinking that it won't be so bad after all. The country has apparently reacted with a "collective yawn" to the $85 billion across-the-board cuts that began last Friday, the Associated Press proclaims. "The sword of Damocles turns out to be made of Styrofoam," the Times reports.

But the sword feels much sharper for families, advocates, and local officials who rely on government funding to treat and care for those with mental illness.Starting April 1, cuts to the Mental Health Block Grant program alone will deprive over 373,000 seriously mentally ill and seriously emotional disturbed children of services, according to a White House fact sheet. Experts also say that nearly 9,000 homeless people with serious mental illness won't receive the outreach and social-work assistance offered by PATH, a vital federally funded program that helps 90,000 people a year to transition to permanent housing. The big picture for the crisis: Disoriented, suffering people may end up jailed, or resort to suicide because the wait for treatment is too long. "We know fewer people will get services and more people will end up in the forensic [justice] system and on the street," says Debbie Plotnick, senior director of state policy for Mental Health America (MHA), a mental-health advocacy group.

Read more:

The Sequester: A Mental-Health Crisis

A quarter a day doesn’t seem like much.

A quarter a day doesn’t seem like much. 

But over the next 10 years that simple investment could pay huge dividends for people with mental illnesses and addictions and the providers who serve them.

In a remarkable display of bipartisan support, lawmakers of both parties have come together to support the Excellence in Mental Health Act, a bill that will offer mental health and addiction safety-net providers the same federal supports provided to all other safety-net providers — including cost-based reimbursement rates through Medicaid.

Earlier this week, the Washington Post Editorial Board wrote about how the Excellence Act will improve federal support for community behavioral health organizations to improve care for Americans with mental health and substance use disorders 

The editorial calls the Excellence Act “a fine plan.” It is that. It creates a federal definition and standards for organizations to become Federally Qualified Behavioral Health Centers — and in return, would offer you a stronger foundation and capacity to meet the existing needs of the people you currently serve, as well as those who will seek care from you through the Medicaid expansion.

The Washington Post editorial is just the latest in a surge of support for the Excellence Act, which has also enjoyed an extensive run of media coverage and is under consideration by the Congressional committees that hope to move a mental health bill through Congress this year.

The Excellence Act would cost about $1.4 billion over 10 years, and benefit roughly 1.5 million people. That’s less than a $100/year for each person - or about a quarter a day. That’s such a small price to pay to help our most vulnerable.

The legislative environment in Washington can be fast-paced and fickle. It’s important that we continue to emphasize to our lawmakers the importance of this legislation and the enormous impact it would have. No one will champion our needs but us.

Will you contact your legislators asking them to support the Excellence in Mental Health Act?

If you have questions or need guidance with your advocacy and outreach efforts, please remember the National Council is here to help. Contact Rebecca Farley at RebeccaF@TheNationalCouncil.org.

Best,
Chuck Ingoglia
Senior Vice President, Policy and Practice Improvement
National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare

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Americans’ mental health
By Editorial Board, Published: February 16

WITH THE Sandy Hook shootings still in the public mind, it seems as though every legislator, from the NRA-friendly to the anti-gun, is paying attention to mental health care in America. But lawmakers must also keep an eye on the bigger transformation of the country’s mental health system that is already in the works.

According to a 2011 study from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, 60 percent of Americans and 70 percent of U.S. children suffering from mental illness aren’t getting treatment. One reason, no doubt, is stigma associated with seeking help for mental rather than physical problems. Another is that out-of-pocket costs and a shortage of mental health professionals limit access.

So, a group of lawmakers led by Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) are proposing to improve community mental health facilities. Under the plan, Medicaid would compensate these facilities more like it does rural health clinics or similar places that provide care for physical ailments. In return, mental health centers, often nonprofit organizations that accept a fair amount of Medicaid money, would have to provide services such as 24-hour crisis psychological treatment and substance abuse programs. Backers say that the proposal would cost about $1.4 billion over 10 years and help about 1.5 million patients. It’s a fine plan.

The Democrats’ 2010 health-care law, however, already prescribes a much bigger change in how mental health services are financed. The Affordable Care Act’s expansion of Medicaid and private insurance will ultimately extend mental health coverage to some 4.3 million Americans, according to a study in the American Journal of Psychiatry— including, no doubt, many of those who would use improved community mental health centers. That’s where the big money comes in.

A new Bloomberg Government study reckons that the coverage extension could shift as much as $29 billion in costs to Medicaid and insurers in 2014, if every state chose to expand its Medicaid programs. But that also assumes that the rate at which people use mental health services doesn’t rise, which it probably will. If 70 percent of those in need seek mental health care — a 30-point increase that Matt Barry, one of the study’s authors, calls “aggressive” but reasonable — Medicaid spending could increase by $261.9 billion between 2014 and 2021.

The federal government, then, is about to make a significant new commitment to mental health care. Mr. Barry says there isn’t much evidence this sort of spending will lead to fewer gun deaths. But, after another shooting, believed to involve a mentally ill suspect who attended the University of Maryland, the possibility can’t be ignored. Of course, reducing gun violence is not the first goal — improving the nation’s mental health is. Congress must ensure that happens, at least.

Act Now for HB 315: Restore Human Services Funding this year

Pennsylvania Mental Health Consumers' Association Advocacy In Action

Act Now for HB 315: Restore Human Services Funding this year Representative Gene DiGirolamo, (R) Bucks County, chair of the House Human Services Committee has introduced House Bill 315, a supplemental appropriation bill that restores $84 million in Human Services funding that was cut as part of the fiscal year 2012-2013 state budget. If it passes, the cuts would be restored immediately. Contact your Pennsylvania representative today Representative DiGirolamo is looking for co-sponsors of the bill and has asked his House colleagues for support. We need you to ask them as well. Check to see if your representative has signed on to co-sponsor the bill. If not, please urge your legislator to co-sponsor HB 315. If your representative is a co-sponsor, please say thank you. Not sure who your representative is?  Find your legislator. Read Representative DiGirolamo's House Co-sponsorship Memoranda , which contains an outline of the increases he proposes. Tell your story In his letter, DiGirolamo says, "The 10% cut that was part of the budget is severely impacting services for people with mental illness, intellectual disabilities and addictions." If you or someone you love is one of those people, tell your legislator how the cuts have hurt you. And share your story with other organizations who are fighting to restore cuts this year-and to prevent more next year. Tell your story. Act today! This is an opportunity to restore Human Services funding and make a critical difference for many individuals and behavioral health organizations across the state.  About PMHCA The Pennsylvania Mental Health Consumers' Association (PMHCA) is a statewide member organization providing information, referrals and supports to people who are receiving services or in recovery from a mental illness in Pennsylvania. 4105 Derry Street                                                      Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17111 Email:  pmhca@pmhca.org  Web site:  www.pmhca.org Join us on the road to recovery.

State of MiND: Mental Health

Member: Independence Media

What if we told you 1 in 4 Americans suffer from a diagnosable mental illness? State of MiND: Mental Health explores the extent of mental illness as a health issue in America. State of MiND is a series that uses statistics to reveal the magnitude of social problems in our country and our community. Join the dialogue and submit your own 5 minute programs about the problems that affect your community.

http://www.mindtv.org/styles/mind/www/index.html