NAMI: Mental Health Campaign
Campaign • Spring 2025
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This speculative campaign for NAMI San Francisco draws a direct line between the city's crumbling physical infrastructure and its broken mental health system. The idea is simple but pointed: NAMI will fix 50 infrastructure problems across the city, and each fix carries a message demanding the same attention for mental health funding.
The campaign uses reverse graffiti (pressure-washing messages onto dirty sidewalks) to create eco-friendly, temporary signage at each location. A fixed pothole gets a stencil that reads "Pothole #12 of 50. This one cost $3,000. One therapy session costs $200. We fixed this. Now fix access to care." A restored park bench says "Take a seat. Take a breath. Now help us restore mental health funding."
The six-month rollout builds strategically: mysterious clean graffiti appears first, then the fixes begin with explanation, then a press conference reveals the full scope. The message to policymakers is impossible to ignore: we spent $500K doing the city's job. Imagine what proper mental health funding could accomplish.
The campaign spans TV, radio, direct mail, and on-site signage, with clear metrics for success including petition signatures, earned media value, and ultimately, a City Council hearing on mental health budgets.