specialty retailer Barbeques Galore unveiled a partnership with crisis support charity Lifeline to spotlight the massive issue of male suicide in Australia.  Around two-thirds of Australians own a barbeque, making it the ideal place to unite people and encourage them to talk openly about issues they may be facing, according to the brand. “Standing around the barbeque can be a safe space to talk, to listen and to understand,” said Barbeques Galore chief executive Angus McDonald. “There is this ‘conversational safe space’ that surrounds a barbeque, creating the perfect time and environment to really connect. The partnership with Lifeline allows us to join together in encouraging Aussies to take 10 and come together.” According to Lifeline Australia’s executive director Robert Sams, men are three times more likely to take their own life than women, though women are more likely to attempt suicide. “There’s enough research to suggest that men are less likely to seek help,” Sams told Inside Retail.  “Not to oversimplify, there can be many reasons for that, but one of the underlying ones is that men tend to feel a burden to perform [a role]. This can be a big contributing factor to their mental health. “I think, thankfully, this is starting to change in our society, but there is still an underlying expectation that the male is the breadwinner. That’s not true for everybody, but it can be a real challenge especially with the cost of living pressures mounting.” Throughout the pandemic Lifeline’s phone services hit an all-time high, jumping from an average of 2500 calls a day before the devastating bushfires of 2019, to a peak of 3720 calls in January 2022.  This is both a positive and a negative, Sams explained. It means that more people are reaching out for help, but it also indicates that more people are struggling. And though Lifeline reaches thousands of people a day, it could reach many more if there were less of a stigma around talking through mental health issues. “[This partnership] is about awareness, but it’s also about action,” Sams said.  “These conversations need to be about leading to action, and creating change. Lifeline is all about making sure people feel heard, and then when they’re ready, helping them to take on the next step.” Young men have fallen further behind peers Barbeques Galore isn’t the only brand trying to help men deal with their mental state.  Men’s skincare brand Stuff works alongside teenage education charity The Man Cave to create safe spaces for teenage boys in schools to ‘take the mask off’, develop language and self awareness for how they’re feeling, and how others are feeling, while they’re still young. “It’s been pretty full on,” Hunter Johnson, founder of both The Man Cave and Stuff, told Inside Retail.  “After the last two and a half years, what we’re seeing is that young men are now socially and emotionally further behind than their female and non-binary counterparts, and because of that they’re actually more disruptive and disrespectful.”  According to Johnson, teenage boys in particular don’t have the emotional literacy or support networks to talk openly and deeply about what they’re going through, but brands can show them the way. “The purpose of Stuff is to support men to navigate a new era of masculinity. We want to create a positive example of masculinity,” Johnson said.  Beyond a focus on men, snack brand Doritos recently partnered with youth-focussed organisation ReachOut to encourage more young people to talk more openly about their feelings.  “With mental health being the number one concern for Gen Z, we recognised that Doritos had a role in this space,” PepsiCo’s chief marketing officer Vandita Pandey told Inside Retail. “As a brand, Doritos is all about encouraging bold self-expression, being comfortable and the best version of yourself. Partnering with ReachOut made sense because it allows us to reach the right audience with a really important message about mental health.” As part of the partnership,  Doritos has revamped its product packaging to include a QR code that directs customers to ReachOut’s ‘checking in with yourself’ quiz, which aims to help young people track how they’re feeling, and provide support. If you or someone you know is facing mental health related pressures, please contact Lifeline at 13 11 14, or use its 24/7 text service by texting 0477 13 11 14.