Clear launches #KeepAClearHead, a global campaign to equip young people with the resilience they need to perform at their best in the face of rising social anxiety

A positive mindset AND access to supportive resources is
best way to tackle the issue

Release of ‘The Long Walk’, starring Clear Ambassador
Cristiano Ronaldo, sees him share his own resilience story

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SINGAPORE -  Media
OutReach  - 13 June 2019 - Clear, a global anti-dandruff hair care brand of Unilever, today
announces the launch of a global campaign – #KeepAClearHead – aimed at
equipping young people with the support and tools they need to become more
resilient in the face of rising social anxiety.  
To help highlight the issue, the brand has released ‘The Long Walk’, a
film starring celebrity ambassador Cristiano Ronaldo which gives viewers an
insight into the journey he takes in preparing for a match.   In the film, Ronaldo urges young people to keep
a clear head as they go through their own Long Walk, encouraging them to be
more resilient in the face of life’s challenges.  

 

In The
Long Walk, Ronaldo explains: “I have
taken this walk a thousand times and still the first step is the hardest. I can
hear my heart beating in my head, but I give each beat a name: Spirit, courage,
greatness. As the noise rises around me, a roar rises in my throat. Your
love makes me strong, your hate makes me unstoppable.”

 

Clear
believes that everyone should be able to perform at their best. However, social
anxiety, defined by the ‘fear of being judged’, can stop people from performing
at their full potential. Globally, over 284 million individuals suffer from
anxiety disorders^[1],
a quarter of whom are between the ages of 10 and 24^[2].
While anxiety disorders often develop during adolescence and early adulthood^[3],
social anxiety tends to have an earlier onset – between the age of 5-10 on
average^[4],
and can have consequences that prevents individuals from reaching their best potential.
Social anxiety has become a major problem for many young people around the
world as more and more expectations are placed on them to succeed.   Now more than ever before, as a consequence of
our ‘always on’ culture and lives lived in full view through social media, young
people find themselves under intense scrutiny and pressure to perform.

 

To
develop a world-leading approach to helping young people build resilience and
prevent social anxiety, CLEAR is working in partnership with the Resilience
Research Centre (RRC) at Dalhousie University and Dr. Michael Ungar, Director of the RRC at Dalhousie University
and author of Change Your World: The Science of Resilience and the True Path
to Success. Ungar, is one of the world’s leading social scientists
whose work is raising awareness of the growing issue of social anxiety and the
need to shift our focus to equipping young people with the supports they need
to achieve both ruggedness AND resourcefulness to be able to tackle life’s many
challenges.  

 

“To understand social anxiety, one
has to distinguish between a social anxiety disorder, which is the most severe
form of the problem and debilitating in more than one area of a person’s life,
and what is called “non-clinical” social anxiety which is far more common. More
serious social anxiety has long-term negative consequences for young people so
it’s important to recognise the early signs of the disorder and prevent even
mild social anxiety before it gets worse,” said Ungar.

 

Together with Clear, Ungar and his team of
researchers are showing that one’s ability to overcome social anxiety and
challenging problems in life depends on both how rugged we are as individuals,
and how resourced and supported we are by our families, friends, co-workers and
communities. Ungar explains why Cristiano Ronaldo is the true personification
of resilience: “His life teaches us that to be successful and resilient, two
things are important. First, we need to be a rugged individual, which means
taking full advantage of our talents and being positive about our future.
Second, we need to be a resourced individual, with people who believe in us and
the opportunities to put our talents to good use. Ronaldo has both strengths —
he knows how to use his incredible talent, and his many supports, including the
love of his fans, to realise his full potential. When we are both rugged and
resourced, we are far more likely to become our very best selves.”

 

Clear
is committed to enabling people to perform at their best, driving a positive
change both by addressing the global issue of social anxiety and working with the
RRC to develop programs and resources designed to build resilience, so that young
people can better cope with social anxiety. #KeepAClearHead will see the brand
working in partnership with Michael Ungar and his team to develop a curriculum
and resources hub which will be rolled out globally and will help young people
assess their levels of ruggedness and resourcefulness and how to develop new
strategies to find and use the resources they need to better tackle social
anxiety. The brand will also leverage pop culture through a partnership with
Marvel to create a series of thought-provoking superhero short films and
inspiring edutainment content to help young people understand the importance of
building resilience and recognising the resources around them to better cope
with self-doubt and social anxiety.

 

“Clear
helps people to defy judgement and perform at their best. As an anti-dandruff
shampoo, we want people to look and feel their best by clearing dandruff, which
can be a cause of social anxiety. However, we believe we can play a bigger role
in tackling the need to build resilience in young people to help them deal with
every facet of social anxiety. Working in partnership, we want to build a
generation of resilient youths who are able to perform at their best, despite
increasing social pressures,” said Tri Tran-Tue, Global Brand Vice President,
Clear, Unilever.

 

To
learn more about #KeepAClearHead and to watch The Long Walk, visit https://www.clearhaircare.com/arabia/en/keepaclearhead.html

 

For
more information on social anxiety among youths, please refer to the appendix.

 

APPENDIX

#KEEPACLEARHEAD:
TACKLING THE GROWING GLOBAL ISSUE OF SOCIAL ANXIETY BY HELPING TODAY’S
GENERATION OF YOUNG PEOPLE DEVELOP RESILIENCE.  

Introduction

To
understand social anxiety, one has to distinguish between a social anxiety
disorder, which is the most severe form of the problem and debilitating in more
than one area of a person’s life, and what is called “non-clinical” social
anxiety which is far more common. More serious social anxiety has long-term
negative consequences for young people so it’s important to recognise the early
signs of the disorder and prevent even mild social anxiety before it gets
worse.

Michael Ungar, Director of the
Resilience Research Centre at Dalhousie University and author of Change Your
World: The Science of Resilience and the True Path to Success

 

“To be at the top of my
game, I have to be at my very best inside and out. We are only at our best when
we fight against the best; I welcome strong rivals as they make me stronger.
Their fans may boo me, but rather than let that tear me down, I channel their
hate to build me up and be unstoppable.”

Cristiano Ronaldo, football
superstar and Clear global ambassador

 

Social
Anxiety:   a growing global issue

In an ‘always on’ world,
where we increasingly live our lives in full view and open to public scrutiny
via social media, the issue of social anxiety is becoming a global
problem.   Over 284 million individuals
suffer from anxiety disorders[5], a quarter of whom are
between the ages of 10 and 24[6]. While anxiety disorders
often develop during adolescence and early adulthood[7], social anxiety tends to
have an earlier onset – between the age of 5-10 on average[8], and can have consequences
that prevents individuals from leading fulfilling lives later in adulthood.

 

The most common held view on
how best to deal with social anxiety tends to focus on developing coping
strategies from within ourselves – having a positive attitude or dispelling
negative thoughts that can trigger anxiety. Most solutions focus on becoming a
more ‘rugged’ individual. However, we believe that this issue cannot be tackled
by ruggedness alone; there is also a need to help young people become better
‘resourced’ individuals that can recognise and find the supports necessary to
better cope with life’s challenges.   

 

Why
is Clear getting involved?

As an anti-dandruff
shampoo, Clear helps people look and feel their best by clearing dandruff,
which can be a cause of social anxiety. However, we believe we can play an even
larger role in building resilience in young people, helping them deal with
every facet of social anxiety. Working in partnership with the Resilience
Research Centre (RRC) at Dalhousie University, we want to build a generation of
resilient youths who are able to perform at their best despite increasing
social pressures.

 

The Director of the RRC,
Michael Ungar, is one of the world’s leading social scientists whose work is
raising awareness of the growing issue of social anxiety and the need to shift
our focus to equipping young people with the supports they need to achieve both
ruggedness AND resourcefulness to be able to tackle life’s many
challenges.  

 

This year we are launching
#KeepAClearHead, a global campaign which, together with our expert partners,
global ambassadors and local influencers, to raise awareness of social anxiety,
its causes and impact on young people and provide practical help and advice on
how best to cope with it.  

 

What
is social anxiety?

Social anxiety itself is
something normal and natural — it is a mechanism that helps us to be aware of
dangers to survive. In fact, everyone experiences some mild form of social
anxiety throughout their lifetime when they are faced with new situations such
as changing schools, starting a new relationship or when applying for their
first job.

 

The most common definition
of social anxiety is a persistent fear of being in social situations where one
is exposed to the scrutiny of others, real or imagined. For example, a mild
level of social anxiety can cause one to have trouble concentrating at work,
performing on tests or make one feel tense when mixing socially.  

 

Social
Anxiety: a global issue with local
nuances

While social anxiety has
been observed in people all around the world, it can look and feel different
depending on contexts and cultures. In a Western context such as the United
States, it tends to appear as social withdrawal and anxiety when asked to speak
with, or in front of others. However, in Asian cultures social anxiety often
appears as shame, or worry that one’s actions will offend others. In China and
other Asian countries, social anxiety is often referred to as social phobia. A
study of social anxiety among Chinese people indicated a unique symptom: fear
of making others uncomfortable or influencing them in a way that is not
beneficial. In Japan and Korea, there is  Taijin Kyofusho (TKS) , which refers to worry about being observed
or offending other people. Those with TKS generally avoid a wide range of
social situations.⁵

 

Rising
social anxiety fueled by the pressures to succeed and the fear of missing out

Social anxiety has become a
major problem for many youths around the world as they are burdened with
expectations to succeed. We are also living in a time where the changing
economic and social conditions make success increasingly difficult.

 

The rise of social media
has added a new dimension to social anxiety as it offers youths a way of
directly quantifying friendships, viewing the friendship networks of others for
comparison, and providing immediate information about social events. Youths
cannot help but compare their own popularity with that of their peers, and
constantly battle with the adolescent ‘fear of missing out’ (FOMO).

 

Today, social anxiety can
be a social survival mechanism, helping us avoid situations where we are
vulnerable. An individual who experiences too much social anxiety tends to be
overly cautious and this can dampen the chances of performing at their best and
achieving their goals. Too much social anxiety is also associated with poor
outcomes, as one might feel ‘frozen’ or ‘paralysed’, or just feel that they are
unable to do things that show the best sides of themselves.

 

For instance, when it comes
to first impressions, being overly concerned about saying the wrong thing might
lead us to say very little, which would be bad if it stops one from getting on
well with others, diminishing the desire to meet up again in the future. The
constant fear that people will reject you when you make the smallest mistake
can snowball into serious long-term consequences like social isolation. This pattern
of behaviour can extend into adulthood and manifests in many different parts of
our lives. The good news is, social anxiety can be prevented, reduced, and
mastered by becoming resilient.

 

Being
‘Rugged AND Resourced’ are key to tackling social anxiety           

 

When building resilience in
an individual, we often focus on building up the individual’s ruggedness which
involves mindset, positive attitude and ability to bounce back from challenges.
However, ruggedness alone cannot explain why some people do well and others
still fail when exposed to the same amount of stress.

 

Being rugged involves
strong internal qualities like having good problem-solving and self-regulation
skills, strong self-control, an ability to learn from past mistakes, and
optimism. For example, putting forward new statements about situations that
scare us and our ability to handle them and internalising these statements
challenges negative thinking with reason. This forms an individual’s rugged
response to break the cycle of unnecessary concern and worry.

 

The new science of
resilience, however, is showing that the chances of success depends just as
much on the quality of the support we get from our families, neighbours,
friends, employers, schools, and even community programs which are there for us
when we are confronted by unusual challenges in our lives. When the world
around us helps bring out our best and provides opportunities to realise our
goals, and encourages us to think positive thoughts, believe in ourselves, and
change our behaviours for the better, we are more likely to be bolder and more
successful in our day to day life.

 

This is especially relevant
to the youths of today who need help but might not know where and how to get
the resources to learn how to cope. There are at least seven aspects of a young
person’s life known to help nurture resilience (see below).

 

 

Clear’s
purpose and commitment

As a global brand, Clear
has been helping millions of people around the world to have the confidence to
perform by clearing their dandruff, which is a source of anxiety and doubt. We
want to inspire people to show the world what they are made of and help them
become resilient, equipping them with the resources they need to better cope
with anxiety and self-doubt.

 

We recognised and want to
shed light on the realities of social anxiety and how it affects youths
globally. We want to let them know that they are not alone and to help them
discover and put into practice rugged AND resourceful practices to help them
better cope with life’s challenges, so they can perform at their best.  

 

Clear is committed to
addressing the global issue of social anxiety by working with experts to
develop programs and resources designed to build resilience. #KeepAClearHead is
the introduction to an ongoing program being developed in close collaboration
with Michael Ungar and his international team at the RRC, that aims to advocate
for a new way of thinking about resilience. Going beyond the traditional
emphasis on individual ruggedness often advocated in Western thinking, our
upcoming curriculum and resources hub aims to address the current needs of
youth today — to support and help them recognize social anxiety, assess their
levels of ruggedness and resourcefulness and develop new strategies to find and
use the resources they need to better tackle social anxiety.  

 

In addition, we have also
teamed up with Marvel to produce a series of superhero films, thought-provoking
and inspiring edutainment content and activations to better engage with youths
on the importance of building resilience by surrounding yourself with
supportive friends and family who can help you navigate life’s twists and
turns.

 

Globally, we continuously
hope to drive positive change by rallying the support of our celebrity
ambassadors and local influencers, so that together, we can create a movement
of resilient youths who are able to perform at their best.  

 

#KeepAClearHead #NothingToHide

 

To find out more, visit https://www.clearhaircare.com/arabia/en/keepaclearhead.html

About Clear

Launched in 1975, Clear has one goal in mind, to provide the most effective
dandruff solution to its consumers. Since then, we’ve never looked back and
have set off to take the world by storm. Unlike many other shampoos which only
wash dandruff away, Clear shampoos are engineered to not only remove dandruff
flakes, but also boost your scalp’s natural self-defence, ending recurring
dandruff concern.