Disconnect. Inhale positive energy and exhale all of your worries. Detox yourself from negative thoughts. Reconnect with yourself. Repeat!

Although such a session sounds wonderful, how can one free themselves from all of their troubles when many of us are connected 24/7? How can we switch off the digital chaos and switch on the good vibes? Detaching ourselves from work, for example, doesn’t feel enough. While getting a break from all our emails feels great, how do we cope with other distractions like notifications, pop-ups, messages, or updates? We are so used to these activities that we think of them as part of our lives but have you ever noticed how they are preventing us from achieving a Zen-like state of mind?

Enter MetLife Gulf‘s “Switch Off” wellness website, a digital place that doesn’t deny the existence of the internet and of the devices we use to stay connected but uses this world to give people an opportunity to enjoy the offline. The financial service company’s online portal combines the brand’s commitment to the holistic life quality of the customers with the ‿and us agency’s will to solve real-life problems through creativity.

The platform emerged as MetLife’s will to tackle internet addiction’s harmful effects that threaten people’s wellbeing. As such, the experience feels like a session of meditation only that, instead of keeping your eyes shut, you clean your mind from worries by taking a journey to a mesmerizing world — almost hallucinatory — that fascinates anyone, whether they seek a moment of silence or simply because they appreciate cool stuff around the internet.

“Over the last two decades, our phones have become more and more ubiquitous in our daily lives,” explains John Thekanady, Head of Digital Marketing, MetLife, Gulf. “But increasingly, they’re becoming less of a tool and more of an extension of our psyche. That’s a problem.” He continues: “The most valuable asset of the 21st century is your attention. So, to truly reconnect with ourselves and do what we love, we first need to learn to disconnect from our devices, however briefly.”

“The world is in the midst of a mental wellness epidemic,” concludes Fadi Yaish, Founder and Chief Creative Officer at ‿and us. “In part, this is due to us living in a hyperconnected world where people’s devices are constantly barraging them with content that stops them from paying attention to the things that matter. There are tons of resources people can turn to for help, but somewhat ironically, all these resources are online — where many people’s problems started in the first place.”

Faithful to its name, the Switch Off experience works only when users switch their internet off, providing them with beautiful meditation-like videos to elevate their spirit. So, disable your WiFi and data and get ready to take this (still digital) path to Nirvana which you can achieve either on mobile or PC, as it works on both devices.

Credits:

Client: MetLife Gulf

Agency: ‿ and us

Founder: Fadi Yaish

Senior Art Director: Saymon Medeiros

Creative Tech Director: Diogo Borges

Senior Copywriter: Steve de Lange

Design Director: Giovanni Borde

Production: Serena Chemaly

Brand Manager: Lama Halimeh

Motion Designer: Soheil Magdi

 

Production

Music & Sound: Toro Áudio

Illustration: Pedro, Papel & Bezouro Estúdio