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To mark Mental Health Awareness Week (9-15 May) Channel 4 has created a new channel ident, which features its giant mascot speaking about his experiences with loneliness.

Created by 4Creative, the 40- and 20-second spots will air on Channel 4 throughout the week as well as appearing on Twitter and Instagram.

Real talk time. A special message from the Channel 4 giant. Join the conversation with

— Channel 4 (@Channel4)

Voiced by actor Tuwaine Barrett, the friendly and relatable giant points out how he rarely speaks because “man keeps to himself and that".

He goes on to describe a time when he was climbing a “mad steep” hill and how this feeling of loneliness hit him.

The films then show the giant doing his usual things, from playing football with his friends to taking a dip in the sea.

"I was like what?! Nah I got loads of mates," he says. "But I couldn't keep up, I felt different, alone." 

The sentient tower of metal then explains the benefits of opening up about this feeling: “But that’s it, fam. We all feel it sometimes. So just reaching out, talking about it, meeting up with mates like this, it helps big time.”

He then directs viewers to use the hashtag #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek to join in the conversation.

The eye-opening idents are part of a larger campaign by Channel 4 to get people talking about their mental health this week.

Channel 4 will be running a stream of content with this goal, including documentary Will Young: Losing My Twin Rupert, which airs tonight (10 May) at 10pm, where the singer speaks openly about the death of his brother and his battle with addiction.

In addition, Jo Brand’s How to Stay Sane in a Mad World and Gemma Collins: Self-Harm and Me will be available to stream on All 4. 

Hollyoaks has also produced a digital content series on TikTok, called #SparkaConversation, as part of its ongoing “Don’t filter feelings” campaign, which shows members of the cast discussing loneliness and how it can be tackled through talking and interaction.

The series is accompanied by a second piece of digital content, where members of the cast perform Give Someone Some Level, a poem addressing themes of loneliness.