Thursday 12 March 2009

Feeling great

"Feel Greatness", the newish SPARC campaign proclaims from TV screens and bus stops. It encourages us to Push Play and for once it seems an advertising campaign about healthy lifestyles manages to:
  • Use a range of people in its advertising
  • Focuse on how exercise can help you feel good
  • Avoid harping on about weight loss
  • Promote realistic goals
  • Make me actually feel like being active.
Yay!

Everytime I see their ads, at a bus stop, in a magazine, or on the telly, I'm reminded of how I feel when I'm exercising, and afterwards. I feel a sense of achievement; yes I made it to the top of the hill, even if I had to stop three times on the way; yes I managed to play tennis for most of an hour, even if I lost four games to two and double-faulted thrice; yes I remember when I couldn't even walk to the dairy and now look, I went the whole way around the block!

The role exercise can play in helping with depression is surely well known by now. But still I frequently forget, especially when it's been a while between walks. SPARC's campaign reminds me, gently, and I get happier even just thinking about feeling that greatness again sometime soon.

I feel a bit like writing to ALAC and saying "look, SPARC can do it without all the judging, do you think maybe your people could talk to their people and you could learn something?"

1 comment:

Anna said...

I haven't actually seen this ad yet, but it sounds fantastic! A real barrier to exercise (and I experienced this particularly when I was fat) is the feeling that it's for the slim and fit and attractive. If you don't feel you fit that model, having a go at exercise can make you feel slightly ridiculous.

I completely agree with you about the positive effects of exercise on depression. It took me a long time to work this one out - but now I would say that sleep and exercise are for me the key elements of good mental health!