Postvention Alliance’s recommended advertising practices

DO:

• Consider that you’re trying to welcome a suffering person to the conversation, and consider that your reader/viewer might be your child, parent, best friend, or coworker.

• Avoid images of humans.

• Adhere to Reporting on Suicide media guidelines when creating flyers, education materials, websites, etc.

• Review advertising that you find inviting or uninviting, especially that which relates to a problem you have personally experienced.

• Research how to write about trauma in a non-traumatizing manner.

• Follow other orgs suggestions on the topic
  

DO NOT USE:

• NEWS ALERT scrolls or URGENT popups on webpages

• COLORS associated with blood, emergency medical care, or deep distress. Some of these are:

  • Blood red

  • Bright red

  • Dark brown

  • “Bruise” multi-colored themes

  • Greys

    Emotional Associations of Color by Doug Ciofani
    How Colors Impact Moods, Feelings, and Behaviors by Kendra Cherry

• IMAGES featuring

  • Images of humans unrepresentative of your project’s leadership

  • Hopelessness

  • Self-injurious behavior

  • Traumatizing events

    Means, methods, and places where people self-injure or self-kill.

    
    Additional info: How to Make Your Writing More Sensitive – and Why It Matters
    
    Thanks to Marilyn Koenig for advising us on these guideline.