Heard an ad for this pledge the other day while I was listening to a podcast and immediately thought this has got to be propaganda.
As somebody who has been struggling with a chronic health issue while continuing to work full time, I can understand why somebody would want their employer to be more understanding of how unpredictable chronic conditions can be...
But for fucks sake, the stress of work and people viewing your value based on what they think you should be doing for them is really the last thing people should be dealing with on top of being sick. Most people are forced to keep working just to survive and keep their health insurance.
Out of curiosity decided to look into the company that started this, and I have to say, their track record really doesn't help change my initial reaction.
Ad giant Publicis Health agrees to $350M settlement over claims it helped fuel opioid crisis
https://www.reddit.com/r/advertising/comments/1o049v3/publicis_exposed/
an ex-Publicis employee just exposed all the wrong everyone in this industry already knows. discrimination, retaliation, bad managers etc
Based on their other controversies, they sure sound like typical corporate scumbags who profit from and enable fascism (and likely sex trafficking of children) while gaslighting the public and insisting any critics are just being dramatic/blowing things out of proportion.
Immigrant Youth Shelters: “If You’re a Predator, It’s a Gold Mine”
Not really. Humans like to work. We like it so much that if we don't have any, we'll create it (hobbies).
Staying busy so you don't dwell on your diagnosis isn't a bad thing, and the social aspect of work is important to the mental health of many.
This is different from capitalism saying you have to work or you die.
There's a difference between wanting to do/create something and wanting a job, in a capitalist sense
But consider that a hobby is voluntary. When you have a job, you have deadlines, obligations, etc. And that all creates stress which hobbies don't.
Some people actually like their jobs.
This isn't advice that's going to work universally, but it's not dystopian.
It seems that having a continued sense of purpose is helpful when it comes to suffering from any chronic illness.
It feels a bit disingenious to imply a sense of purpose has to be tied into your employment, and coming from an advertising agency with a shady history shifts it from disingenuous to dystopian.
I honestly enjoy my job sometimes, but it is very stressful and there have been many times (like right now) that I should have just taken paid leave that I have earned over the years and was entitled to take, but didn't. Even now I have to continue working for several complex reasons. Some of these reasons are just general long standing problems of the American work place, but many are hyper specific to America in 2025-2026 vs America in 2021-2024. One being the fact that if I just suddenly left in the middle of a project, it would place a financial burden and several downstream consequences on other people that could be catastrophic to them.
The stress of having to continue working while I should be on medical leave and avoiding stress, not only has taken an unnecessary toll on my health, it's made me really dread having to go to work. I've never been a gungho let me die for my employer type, but I've accepted the downsides to my current job because there are (or at least used to be) more positives than negatives, I'm good at it, and it's sometimes really interesting and exciting.
Being forced to continue to poorly perform a job i'm just physically not able to continue doing, at the moment, has made it a really miserable and stressful experience on top of the misery and stress of the chronic health issues that I have been trying to resolve.
I'm not even dealing with the burden of cancer, but if I was in my current situation while dealing with a cancer diagnosis, I would be even more outraged at the suggestion that channeling my resources and strength into forcing my body to continue going to work while it's under attack, instead of focusing on recovering and navigating the hellscape that is American healthcare, is somehow in my best interest. Frankly, it's insulting.
Then the advice isn't for you. Like I said, it's not universally applicable.
right? it's not for me either, but i'm not somehow personally offended that it works for some
Well, I like being able to do what I want. And a thing with lots of restrictions isn't part of that.
Alright, then the advice isn't for you.
But that's also exactly why a lot of people like it. When you have a hobby, it is really easy to just not feel like doing it. When you're being told by someone else what to do, and when, some people feel some relief that it's someone else taking control.
People be weird. I know a lot of folks that kept working years after they could have retired, and it's cause their job wasn't stressful, but it gave them structure that they wanted in their lives.