Droga5 Reaches Out with a Potential Mental Health Emoji for the HT40 Foundation and Shoulder Check

For World Emoji Day today, Droga5 New York has launched a meaningful initiative spearheaded by The HT40 Foundation and Shoulder Check. The HT40 Foundation, founded by Rob Thorsen and Sarah Thompson, is named after their late son Hayden Thorsen, who died by suicide at age 16 in 2022. HT40 has been dedicated to raising awareness about mental health and providing support to those in need, with a mission to inspire a culture of kindness and support through small actions that have big impact — sometimes as simple as a hand on a shoulder to let someone know you are there for them.

HT40’s research indicates that 80% of teens and Gen Z want to check in on their friends and family but often struggle to find the right words. So HT40 and Droga5 have collaborated on two initiatives this year to help open up important conversations about mental health awareness - a topic we all know can be difficult to talk about. 

Initiative 1: Launching a campaign to promote a potential mental health emoji, a universal symbol to help simplify the act of checking in on someone’s mental health. One design is called The Reaching Out emoji, which shows a hand with a blue heart on top of it, and the other is The Here For You emoji, which shows two blue figures extending a hand on their backs.

To ensure it resonates with those who would be using it the most, HT40 is asking people to vote on their favourite design in the comment section of their Instagram post — which will be shared via an OOH and grass root initiatives (via QR code & in-person events) and social media campaign launching on World Emoji Day (July 17th). 

Initiative 2: The 2nd Annual Shoulder Check Showcase Hockey Event. HT40’s annual Shoulder Check Showcase charity hockey game is an initiative that takes place this year on 25th of July.  he idea is to have the NHL pros and attendees take the Shoulder Check pledge by placing a hand on the shoulder of the player next to them, promising to 'Reach Out, Check In, Make Contact'. This pledge is meant to be taken back to their own teams and communities to spread awareness of this important issue and to help people start conversations about mental health in an easier way.