NEW YORK—Social media has often been scrutinized for the negative role it can play in users' mental health—especially in teens—but in its collaboration with the Mental Health Coalition, Pinterest wants to amplify the positive. In celebration of May as Mental Health Awareness Month, the social media company has teamed up with the Mental Health Coalition (founded by designer Kenneth Cole) to work with dozens of Pinterest creators who have shared their takes on "mindfulness, presence, living with intention, and digital wellness."
These ideas were curated to create Pinterest Havens: A Whole Mood, which lives on the image-sharing and social media site as a Pinterest board for users to explore. A Whole Mood was brought to life with the help of brand consultancy/experiential agency hybrid Verb as an immersive experience in New York City earlier this month, and it featured six installations exploring color and mood. Designed to show a range of content people can find on Pinterest relating to emotional well-being and mental health, the installations were an all-in effort to help users build emotional awareness.
"The importance of mental health has been increasing over the last two years, and this activation was driven by the need to connect the dots, moving from talking about it to inspiring positive and sustainable action," Verb co-founder Yadira Harrison said. "With Pinterest and our partners, we created a safe space for guests to learn and discover different ways that they could remove stigma, tackle issues, and prioritize well-being."
Each of the six distinct spaces within the event were assigned a color and emotion. The green area, "Reap What You Sow," invited guests to write down a manifestation or goal on plant-able seed paper and "plant and water these goals to come to life."Photo: Ellie MacLean
The activation took place in a mixed-use venue—that will soon serve as a PlantShed store and event venue—located in the heart of SoHo. The building was originally built in 1900 as a factory, and has maintained some original details, including exposed-brick walls, high ceilings, and multiple skylights.
"Verb took the bare, lofted space and transformed it into six distinct areas, each dedicated to a different color and emotion," said Elizabeth Luke, brand communications lead for Pinterest. "As the photos show, this was no small feat and required great creativity on a shoestring budget. Again, this is a huge testament to the Verb team."
In the pink room, guests were urged to "let their self-love sing." They were led through a guided session on the best methods to tune a singing bowl, in an effort to encourage them to continue the practice at home.Photo: Ellie MacLean
Visitors could explore the different colored areas, such as the green "Reap What You Sow" space, which invited guests to write down a manifestation or goal on plant-able seed paper and "plant and water these goals to come to life." And the yellow area was "the happy place," offering "Tailored Tea & Tinctures," while the blue area—dubbed "Passing Clouds"—was one of Luke's favorite parts of the activation. That space invited guests to sit back and relax while enjoying an ear-seeding acupressure session and listening to positive frequencies, ASMR, and soft vibes.
In the blue room, "Passing Clouds," visitors could partake in ear-seeding acupressure sessions.Photo: Ellie MacLean
"This activation was about embracing our full range of emotions," Luke explained. "Even if Pinterest is a 'positive' place, that doesn’t mean that there are not also tough days. No emotion is good or bad, and we wanted to create space for that. This notion also aligns with a product feature we have called 'compassionate search,' which offers a collection of interactive activities to help Pinners safely access supportive resources to improve their mood if they are feeling stressed, anxious, sad, or trying to manage difficult emotions."
To level up guest experience, HealHaus provided wellness experts and practitioners. Pinterest also partnered with Joybird to supply furniture featured throughout the space. Joybird also created accompanying "Idea Pins" around its products connected to the mood rooms, which stood out to Luke.
"Because many people come to Pinterest to get inspired and shop, ads are actually welcomed as content. Joybird is all about embracing moods and creating peace, calm, and joy in their fabrics and colorways. Orange, pink, blue—they elevated so many of our rooms with Idea Pins that were included in the Haven. As someone who really values my home, the connection between design and well-being really resonates with me," Luke said."
Like any activation, the live Pinterest Haven wasn't without its challenges.
"A raw storefront is typically used for pop-up retail experiences," said Shannon Simpson Jones, co-founder of Verb. "We built multiple interconnected vignettes that leaned into the venue’s existing architecture and future use as a plant retailer to tell a holistic story. A traditional event venue would have had built-in resources to help achieve some of the elements of the activation, that, in this instance, we had to plan for and execute."
But the two-day activation proved to be a success. And Simpson Jones said one of the most cathartic experiences for guests was the “Thorns & Roses” experience.
"Guests were able to write hard-to-express emotions and experiences on a wall-sized board, and then let the negative emotions go by pinning a beautiful rose," she explained. "While a very public way to release these issues, the safe space we created allowed guests the comfort to express themselves and begin the healing process."
Shannon Simpson Jones, co-founder of Verb, said her favorite part of the activation was the "Thorns & Roses" experience, where guests "were able to write hard-to-express emotions and experiences on a wall-sized board, and then let the negative emotions go by pinning a beautiful rose," she said.Photo: Ellie MacLean
Featured speakers at the event included fashion clothing designer and Mental Health Coalition founder Kenneth Cole, Stop the Shame founder Shanti Das, experts from wellness concept HealHaus, and Dr. Marc Brackett, founder and director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence.
Overall, Luke said the result was a powerful activation, and she's grateful to Verb's team for their helping bring Pinterest's vision to life: "The creativity truly surpassed our expectations."
