L.L. Bean Goes Dark On Social Media
L.L. Bean has hit the pause button on its social media efforts in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month.
In addition to ceasing posting across all social media channels beginning May 2, the apparel brand and retailer also wiped clean its Instagram account — replacing all previous images with a “Gone Fishing” grid layout.
In other channels, such a Facebook, the company instead links to a landing page on its website with content encouraging self-care and the benefits of outdoor activity.
L.L. Bean is also providing a $500,000 grant to Mental Health America as part of a two-year partnership that aims to help reach people through community-based outdoor mental health-focused programs, research, and multimedia campaigns “that create connection and inclusion with the outdoors,” it said in a statement.
[See also: L.L. Bean CIO: Headless Commerce Keeps Us Nimble]
Consumer use of social media skyrocketed during the pandemic, growing to 97 minutes per day in 2021, according to eMarketer, with usage driven by social commerce and TikTok. In a proclamation for Mental Health Awareness Month, the White House pointed to research demonstrating social media’s central role in increasing mental health challenges among young people.
“For more than a century, L.L.Bean has helped enable people to get outside, based on the belief that experiences in nature help bring out the best in us,” said Shawn Gorman, L.L.Bean executive chairman. “Now, research confirms what we have always felt intuitively: Going outside is critical for our individual and collective well-being. We are so enthusiastic to partner with Mental Health America to help more people experience the restorative power of the outdoors in their daily lives.”
