The arts are a lifeline and safe space for many LGBTQ+ youth. New findings from MTV and Pivotal Ventures’ Youth Mental Health Tracker highlight the critical role creativity plays in fostering emotional health, particularly for LGBTQ+ youth. Inspired by these insights, MTV and RuPaul’s Drag Race (RPDR) launched ‘Creativity as Self-Care,’ to highlight the important connection between the arts and emotional health and drive young people to custom resources and a toolkit that leverages creativity as part of their own mental wellbeing practice. To engage audiences with the campaign we created an exclusive Portrait of a Queen profile featuring the iconic star, Marcia Marcia Marcia.
Leaning into a successful existing Drag Race series on YouTube, this special episode of Portrait of a Queen takes fans backstage on Broadway as fan- favorite, Drag Race alum Marcia Marcia Marcia (Marty Lauer) shares their creative journey. We hear from Marty as they prepare to step into one of theater’s most legendary queer characters: the Emcee in Cabaret.
The video taps into what we know resonates with our audience: all things Drag Race, a behind the scenes look at life on Broadway, and self-care. We wanted to explore an uplifting, real life example of how the creative arts can shape mental wellness. The episode dives into how early training in the performing arts helped Marty shape their identity and sense of community. They explore how their creative evolution gave them confidence and empowered them while offering advice for anyone looking to tap into creativity to support their own emotional well-being.
The video was shared in early May, during Mental Health Awareness Month and mid-season of Drag Race Season 17, when we know our audiences are primed for engaging content related to selfcare and wellness.
The digital posts included our custom resource site, which was promoted across Drag Race platforms, engaging audiences across TikTok, IG and Facebook.
Overall, the video received over 1.4M views and earned 109k engagements. It resulted in +23% more engagement and +14% views than other similar episodes. Fan sentiment was overwhelmingly positive noting “This was so good for my soul! Very inspiring!”
