By admin 
Happiness is one warm puppy.
This piece of wisdom from Peanuts maker Charles M. Schulz was embraced Tuesday night by an increasingly exhausted American electorate seeking refuge from potentially catastrophic news. One by one as the polls closed and the states were called in, fear began to rise. Would my candidate win? Were the polls misleading? Do I have to live in an America where I feel unsafe?
Unfortunately, Steve Kornacki and his many manila folders didn’t immediately provide answers, so we turned to friends, family and online communities for reassurance. Finally we heard whispers of a break from all the statistics, an oasis of calm:
“The Calm app IG page has puppies playing if you need a break from election anxiety,” TV host Nina Parker wrote on X.
The Calm app’s IG page has puppies live-streamed if you need a break from election anxiety
— Nina Parker (@theninaparker) November 6, 2024
And sure enough, puppies romping and chewing, cruising and sniffing filled the screen. “Paws and look!” read the Calm caption. “We are live with some fur friends who are looking for homes.”
Puppies lived their best puppy lives, blissfully unaware of any political unrest. It was a welcome relief from the growing discomfort of seeing the election results. Apparently Calm doesn’t just consist of meditations and sleep stories. They’re puppies too.
Salon spoke to a Calm spokesperson about the puppy livestream, along with their “30 seconds of silence” ad that played Tuesday night and other initiatives to combat politically induced fear:
Can you explain to me the origins of the livestream puppy concept? Who are the puppies? Someone’s pets? Rescues?
Our goal was to create a calming corner of the internet through our Instagram Live. We streamed soothing images of wildlife like penguins and meerkats at the San Diego Zoo while the polls were still open. And when the polls closed, we followed that up with a stream of cuddly adoptable puppies Press live dog rescue. This plan was based on research showing that looking at cute animals can reduce anxiety.
What were the discussions about how long the live stream should last?
It was important for us to provide support to people as the polls closed and results poured in across the country. That’s why we followed the live stream at the San Diego Zoo with the adoptable puppy live stream. As the sun set on the zoo animals and they went to bed for the night, we were still able to provide soothing animal images for people to tune into.
Calm – Puppy Live Stream
What was the feedback on the live stream?
More than 145,000 people tuned into these livestreams looking for a place to unwind, and the response was overwhelmingly positive, with people sharing their appreciation across social channels. On the social front, Calm mentions were up over 600% compared to the daily average in 2024.
What’s the lesson here – for those people who don’t think viewing puppies on an app gets them anywhere?
The responses showed that there was a collective need for a moment of peace and escape from the 24/7 news and alerts. It was also important for us to meet people where we already knew they would be – scrolling on their phone – with a real-time moment of calm.
This was not the only content surrounding the elections. There have been blog posts about concerns about politics and election anxiety, not to mention the breathy posts on Instagram. I even saw an ad offering 30 seconds of silence.
In addition to the livestreams, Calm has created support resources to help people find peace and relief during election season, including a free “Election Season Support” content collection (calm.com/election), “Navigate world events” mindfulness series and customized, mind-expanding sleep stories like the “The Night Light.“We also ran calming commercial breaks throughout election season to break the news cycles with a moment of calm, including our first-ever ‘quiet ad,’ which ran all election night.
How early should pre-election discussions have a variety of content?
It was important to us to have support resources available to people throughout the election cycle, from debate nights to election week and beyond. This included creating a free resource page with a range of meditations, sleep stories and breathing exercises so that anyone who needed support could access it.
The meditation app @calm bought 30 seconds of primetime ad space on election day and did this.
What a striking advertisement! Bound to build an excellent memory.
Shows tremendous confidence in their own branding to do something like this.
Source: @deanbphillips pic.twitter.com/fphl4hViDK
— Lord Shingala (@noheeriye) November 6, 2024
Can you walk us through the ’30 Seconds of Silence’ ad from concept to execution?
Building on the meaningful impact of our CNN Key Race Alert sponsorship in 2020 and in the heightened political climate, we knew that providing moments of calm would be essential again this election season. Election day (and week) brings a lot of noise – from breaking news to election results and political ads. As people want to stay informed and engaged, it can be difficult to distance themselves, resulting in increased stress. We wanted to meet people where they were with a real-time moment of calm, delivered through a simple and unexpected 15 to 30 second silent ad break between the updates and alerts.
Do you have a calendar of high-stress events you want to target? What’s next?
Calm has always been committed to supporting people through life’s most stressful moments, and we will continue to be there as a resource, whether in collective moments of stress or for individuals going through a specific challenging time.
Calm is also known for collaborating with celebrities who invest in and create content, especially the Sleep Stories. Who is the most listened to celebrity of all time?
Our top 5 most popular sleep stories are ‘Blue Gold’ (read by Stephen Fry), ‘Wonder’ (Matthew McConaughey), ‘The Waterfall’ (Tamara Levitt), ‘The Nordland Night Train’ (Erik Braa) and ‘Dream With Ik ” (Harry Styles).
Harry Styles Sleep Story
Some of them are so bizarre and funny. The most recent one I can think of along those lines is Tom Hardy as Venomwhich at first glance may seem counterintuitive to sleep. Can you talk to me about that? Is it actually soothing?
We partnered with Sony on this Sleep Story to give Marvel and Hardy fans a way to unwind after watching “Venom: The Last Dance.” This Sleep Story gives fans a unique way to experience the characters while they sleep soundly. Our expert content team knows how to spread soothing magic on all our Sleep Stories through the narrator’s cadence to the background music to help people fall asleep.
I often look for nap stories, but a lot of them on Calm are for kids, which is what I default to (Sienna the Sleepy Sloth FTW). Will more be made for adults?
We are always creating new sleep content for our members, including nap stories for adults as sleep is one of the top reasons people turn to Calm.
How do you think Calm has evolved? Where does it want to go?
Calm started as a meditation app, but we have since grown into a mental health company committed to supporting people on their mental health journey. Through our resources, we help people sleep better, reduce stress, build a daily mindfulness practice, and navigate the many experiences of being human, whether it’s growing older, coming out, promoting of healthy relationships, dealing with health problems, changing jobs. ,and much more.
We’re also focused on expanding access to Calm and our latest evidence-based mental health app Calm healththrough partnerships with health insurance companies and employers.
Do you have a tip or tip for the future about dealing with political anxiety?
Focus on what you can control. Worrying about things you can’t change can only increase anxiety. Focus on positive actions you can take, such as volunteering or connecting with your community, to help you feel empowered.