A mental health campaign is to use virtual adverts in a computer football game to target “hard to reach” young men.
Players of Football Manager 2018 will see pitch-side hoardings promoting the MindMate website run by NHS Leeds Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
Clicking on the ads will take the gamer to the website.
The adverts are “geo-targeted”, so only people in Leeds will see the MindMate promotion.
The website features advice, stories from young people and other help resources.
Dr Jane Mischenko from the CCG said the site was developed in consultation with young people and their families.
“Mental health and wellbeing is an important subject for children and young people, so our aim is to signpost MindMate as a resource that they can turn to for support and advice when the time suits them,” she said.
The eight-second advert will run for a month and is part of a larger six-month campaign to promote the MindMate site.
Simon Mitchell from Bidstack, who developed the adverts, said: “Males in particular are hard to reach and engage, and the gaming environment in Football Manager is a great way to connect with them.”
Article originally appeared on BBC News
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