MACS 299D: Zombies on the Brain

Final Project
Original Artwork
University of the Fraser Valley

Submitted to: Darren Blakeborough

Submitted on: Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Submitted by 300105234

For my final project, I chose to do an original artwork piece in the form of an advertisement. The
advertisement is for the Canadian Mental Health Association, a voluntary organization that
strives to combat mental illness. I chose to do an ad that supported this cause because I think that
there still exists, a stigma attached to mental illness; people tend to perceive these illnesses in a
certain way, often with negative connotations. The reality is that thousands of Canadians live
with a mental illness that affects their everyday life and we should be able to communicate about
it and find support for it without hesitation or difficulty.
The ad itself depicts a young man standing in front of a mirror in a washroom at his home; the
mirror is the door to a medicine cabinet. This character is holding a prescription for depression, a
condition he lives with; as he holds this prescription, he glances up at his reflection in the mirror.
He sees himself in a very different way than which the rest of the world sees him. The figure
looking back at him is a zombie, a dead, cold, bloodied creature. It is him, the way he sees
himself. This young man feels the way the zombie looks, but presents himself to look completely
normal to the outside world in order to uphold his perceived societal expectations, hence why we
see him as a normal young man. There is no doubt that this character is living in distress and is
likely frustrated that he must take medication for something like depression at his age. However,
like the zombie, mental illness does not discriminate between demographics of a person, such as
their age. It attacks unexpectedly and consumes its victims until it is fought off.
The tagline for this ad is as follows: Not every smile is genuine. I think this is a truth that any
individual dealing with a mental illness would support. If someone has depression, for example,
there are days where they dont feel like getting out of bed, let alone exchanging pleasantries
with others. Despite that, it has been instilled our behaviours, particularly in North American
culture, to not let on to anyone that you may be experiencing personal difficulties. Therefore,
many do get out of bed in the morning and put on a false smile with others. The benefit of this
behaviour for the ill individual is that they are allowed to avoid the problem at hand, if only for a
little longer. The risk involved, is that this behaviour conveys to others that you are perfectly fine
and they wont question that perception. This is particularly dangerous as this allows the illness
to fester without any external support and can lead to more complications. Since those with
mental illnesses are so conditioned to conceal their issues, the tagline hopefully speaks to those
who may have someone in their inner circle that has a mental illness, to take a little more notice
of whats genuine and what is possibly a front. I believe such a message can help the helpless.
Naturally, the Canadian Mental Health Association logo and contact details are presented in the
bottom corner of the ad, as a following step for the reader.
While mental illness is not something we read directly about in our weekly readings, I strongly
believe that it is a by-product of a number of issues we did cover. Two of these issues that are
perhaps the most prominent are capitalism and consumerism. As Jessica Murray presents in her
work, A Zombie Apocalypse: Opening Representational Spaces for Alternative Constructions of
Gender and Sexuality, Zombies articulate current social anxieties that are marked by concerns
over environmental deterioration, political conflict, the growth of consumer capitalism, and the
commodification of the body in contemporary biomedical science (Dendle, 2007). Capitalism
is always regarded as one of the leading social issues in our world, but is fighting for this
ideology worth the reward it implies is up for the taking? The problem I have with capitalism is
that you can never have enough. You continue to work harder and separate yourself from the
middle and working class, and never stop to enjoy what you have accomplished. As I mentioned

earlier, this is where mental illness can come into play. Your average capitalist finds herself
working a routine that never differentiates and this can lead to depression, in many cases.
Consumerism operates in very much a similar fashion as capitalism. We are so programmed to
consume more and more and buy the newest, greatest item, that are satisfaction levels deplete
over time. We read more evidence of consumerism in the published work, The Idle Proletariat:
Dawn of the Dead, Consumer Ideology, and the Loss of Productive Labor: The consumer drive
[of the men] leads the group to a dangerous plan in Dawn of the Dead: they reason they can
capture the mall for their own use if they first block the outer entrances with semi-trucks and
then exterminate the zombies trapped inside (Bishop, 2010). Though this group is fictional, they
attempt to execute a plan that fulfills our real life desires, a whole mall to ourselves. When all is
said and done, we can take nothing with us except our memories, none of which will include
buying the newest pair of shoes for the fall season. Despite knowing this, we still consume
endlessly. We have a drive that is very difficult to control; perhaps that is why consumerism also
leads to mental illness.
I believe there is such a substantial connection between the zombie figure and someone dealing
with mental illness. The deadness of both, the optimism of the individuals family for a cure, and
even the degraded physical state of both are all too similar. Upon closer examination of my ad,
there are other minor details to support the tone of the message. When looking at the contents of
the medicine cabinet, we see that the toothpaste has spilled over and the mouthwash is almost
empty; there is also a bottle of Tylenol on the second shelf. These items are symbolic of the fact
that when one experiences mental illness, other aspects of their life fall by the wayside.
Everything compacts on top of each other. Its also no coincidence that the primary colour of the
ad is grey. Grey is the colour most commonly associated with depression, so its fitting that the
walls are painted in that shade. Finally, looking at the zombie reflection of the young man, we
notice the copious amount of blood on his face. At first glance, it appears to be just flesh
decomposition. Upon a second glance we can note that the left eye is shedding a tear. Albeit the
tear is blood, even this monstrous figure is expressing the sadness that is associated with the tone
of the message.
The advertisement I have created is one that is meant to raise awareness and offer a solution. The
zombie figure can take on many personas and I feel it is embodying one here, with mental illness
at the forefront. In my opinion, mental illness can go hand in hand with many major topics in our
world, and ones that we have previously read about, such as capitalism and consumerism. My
hope is that we can eventually reverse some of our destructive patterns and all live more
enjoyable lives in a world without mental illness; if my advertisement contributes in some form
to that objective, then I consider it a success.

References

Brooks, M. (2006). World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. New York, NY: Crown
Publishing Group.

Original Artwork

Original artwork by Dan Gibson. Advertisement for the Canadian Mental Health Association.