Blue Monday

19th January

According to ‘scientists’, we’ve managed to navigate the “ saddest day of the year”…well, kind of.

 

Blue Monday is an awareness day launched, rather unsurprisingly, by TV Channel Sky Travel back in a successful crusade to sell more holidays.

 

The company worked with a psychologist to create an algorithm of when the saddest day of the year would occur. The equation looked at weather conditions, debt level, time elapsed since Christmas, time since failing our New Year’s resolutions and feeling of a need to take action.

 

Since its launch way back in 2005, it’s become a bit of fixation for PR specialists and, just like Black Friday, many businesses jump on the bandwagon, offering sales to drum up custom extra custom.

 

However, the term has been especially prominent in the media this year, with many media outlets, including the BBC and The Guardian, criticising the day’s growing popularity, claiming it trivialises mental health issues.

 

The TV channel officially closed in 2010, but with social media platforms adding traction to many national awareness days, the term lives on annually through Twitter and Facebook.

 

Some awareness days undoubtedly draw attention to important causes, but for every one of those important causes there’s a National Sausage Week or an International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Since national days and awareness weeks became a PR tool, they have become diluted. So be wary of awareness days!