Case
Professional football breaks the silence around mental health
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Client
Eredivisie CV
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Service
Strategy, Concept, Campaign, Video, Social, Design
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Date
2026
The Eredivisie and Keuken Kampioen Divisie united all professional clubs around one message: Samen Tegen Kwetsbaarheid
Every week millions of Dutch football fans gather around the game. Through highs, lows, wins, and losses. But when it comes to how men actually feel, the conversation remains silent. Research shows that 39% of men in The Netherlands struggle with their mental health, yet most never talk about it.
The Eredivisie CV and Keuken Kampioen Divisie challenged us to change that. Not with another awareness campaign, but with a movement.
One game. One message
We built the campaign around a single insight: in football men do everything together except when it comes to talking about how they really feel. We turned that insight into a unifying idea that lived everywhere at once.
During a dedicated match round, all professional clubs in the Netherlands came together around one shared message: Samen Tegen Kwetsbaarheid.
At the heart of the campaign was a track written specifically for the campaign by Typhoon ‘Kan niet Alleen’. Prior to all matches the song and it’s fim was played in every stadium in the country.
Captains stood side by side holding a shared pennant. Led boarding carries the message. ESPN wove the story into their live coverage. What normally is a moment of competition became a moment of collective reflection.
When footballers speak up, millions listen
To give the campaign depth from within the football world itself, we partnered with Cinetree to launch the documentary ‘Echte Mannen Huilen Niet’ at Koninklijk Theater Tuschinski. Seven current and former players, including Gianni Zuiverloon, Ron Vlaar, Ryan Donk, and Edson Braafheid, opened up about their personal struggles on camera. The film became the emotional backbone of the campaign, fueling talk shows, press coverage, and conversations far beyond football.
From conversation to action
Through a dedicated platform and a partnership with the Play Mental Foundation, workshops were organised at clubs across the country, giving fans the tools to talk, listen, and support each other. Every touchpoint led to the same call to action: You are not alone. Dare to share.
