Brian Cox, Asics Back Workplace Mental Health 

Time to take a #deskbreak

Brian Cox knows a thing or two about scary bosses. In an ad for Asics, he voices concern for the mental health of employees behind a desk all day, especially those who returned to the office post-pandemic.

Cox encourages office workers to take a #deskbreak, noting he’s not the deadliest presence at wrk—the desk is. 

“Look at you, trading your own mental health for free fruit and a Wellness Wednesday,” Cox beings.

“Fuck the fruit,” he continues—and we see he’s rocking Asics kicks and running shorts. Dude’s business up top and 5K from the waist down.

The :75 was directed by Peter Franklyn Banks and produced by Kode.

“To effectively step out of the exercise world, into the workplace, Asics needed an unignorable action,” says Gemma Combellack, executive director, consumer, at Golin U.K. “Turning Brian Cox, as the world’s scariest boss, into a workplace mental health champion was the creative answer. He’s obviously a very selective actor, but loved the ambition of the campaign and embraced the quirkiness of script from the start.”

Before RTO became par for the course at most companies, Asics was conducted a “Desk Break” experiment with Dr Brendon Stubb. This study found that one’s mental state starts to decline after two sedentary hours. But just 15 minutes of exercise can help to reverse those effects.

The campaign from Golin includes OOH and workplace influencer elements. The brand also created the “Desk Break Clause,” a contract that gives workers the “legal right” to 15-minute movements breaks throughout their workday. Asics U.K. has added it to its own company policy.

For World Mental Health Day on October 10, the sneaker brand invites people to post mages of their empty desks with #DeskBreak. Each shared image will help raise funds for the cause.  

“The ’80s style office setting you see? It’s actually an old church,” Combellack tells Muse. “We shot it in Glasgow and completely transformed the church into our office scene, with lighting rigs set up to come through the church windows and create the moody atmosphere you see in the film. “