Health insurance supplier Bupa UK, alongside creative content agency Contented Group, has released a series of hard-hitting emotional videos to encourage women to open up about their mental health.

‘Powerful Real Stories’ comprises of two separate films, each showcasing two women speaking directly to camera in their homes. As they speak, their composure and conversation slowly ‘unfilter’ revealing the inconsistencies between ‘filtered’ lives on social media and people’s daily realities and struggles.

“The ’Powerful Real Stories’ campaign aims to champion authentic conversations about mental health, perfectionism, and highlight that nothing on social media is ever as it really seems,” noted Helen Bruce, head of consumer marketing for Bupa UK Insurance.

“It’s great to see that many brands are speaking out about self-esteem in the social media age and our campaign is also underpinned by a serious message about women’s mental health. One of the key challenges in this area is people are not getting help early enough. Early mental health diagnosis is proven to significantly improve outcomes.”

Alongside the short clips, there will also be an augmented reality (AR) filter for Instagram which takes an ‘enhanced’ image of the user and slowly dissolves it to reveal their natural self. Carefully selected influencers will also use the filter to uncover the challenges of living up to unrealistic expectations on their own platforms.

“This has been such a fulfilling project to work on. From its inception, the team and I really connected with the stories and the idea of being honest about how you feel, and the expectations put on women,” added Nicola Harris, executive producer at Contented who led the production on the project.

“Truly inspiring to work with so many talented women to produce this powerful work both here at Contented and at Bupa. I really hope that when women see this campaign, they will share their own unfiltered stories”.