Humorous Mantherapy Tackles Suicide Prevention

Speaking to us on behalf of the Carson J. Spencer Foundation, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the Office of Suicide Prevention, the very manly Dr. Rich Mahogany aims to help men deal with life's curve balls with Mantherapy.

Sitting in his, ahem, mahogany-filled office, complete with buck head, trophies, diplomas, and leather-clad arm chair, Dr. Mahogany, who cleans his desk with a leave blower and warms his hands by stuffing them down his pants, explains men have a certain way of doing things. And when it comes to divorce, depression or suicidal thoughts, men should have a certain way to deal with these issues too.

And that's where Dr. Mahogany's Mantherapy comes in handy. In three educational videos, Dr. Mahogany informs men how do deal with stress with breathing techniques, yoga and cooking. But not the kind of breathing, yoga or cooking you might normally see. No, this is mantherapy and with mantherapy things are done differently. Quite differently.

So when faced with a "son of a bitch boss" who has you working late and you're stuck behind a 105 year old woman doing 7 in the fast lane, regular stress-relieving breathing exercises just won't do. Oh no. But Dr. Mahogany's certainly will.

We also learn that yoga isn't just for yuppies any more and Mahogany's "Majestic Mahogany" move is all one needs to relieve pent up anxiety. And when it comes to cooking, well, there's only one way manly men do it.

The campaign, created by Denver-based Cactus, includes several videos, a TV spot, billboards, posters, transit and a website on which a humor-filled questionnaire actually asks serious questions to help determine helpful treatment. The work, funded by The Anschutz Foundation, aims to normalize the idea of treatment for men's depressions and to curtail suicide among middle-aged men in Colorado.

The creative, which carries the tagline, "Therapy. The way a man would do it," likens grilling to aromatherapy, pooping to meditation, the 7th inning stretch to yoga. Coasters placed in bars carry the copy, "Women... I've written your man a prescription for sexual intercourse. With you. At least four times a week"

Marrying humor with suicide is a bit like juggling flaming batons while walking a tightrope strung across Niagara Falls...without a safety wire but Cactus has pulled it off in a way that's both informative and in tune with the way many men choose not to get all touchy feely about their feelings.