YesMadam: a mental health campaign gone wrong

Learning outcomes Case overview/synopsis YesMadam, a tech-enabled platform offering beauty and wellness services, found itself amid a controversy after a viral LinkedIn post alleged that over 100 employees were fired for admitting stress in an internal survey. The company later clarified that the terminations were not real, but rather part of a campaign to raise awareness about mental health in the workplace. While the co-founder defended the intent, the campaign received severe backlash online, with critics accusing the company of being insensitive to employees’ emotions and well-being. The campaign damaged employee trust, raised ethical concerns and cast doubt on the company’s ability to handle employees’ mental health. Faced with mounting criticism, YesMadam must now decide how to correct course, rebuild credibility – both internally and externally – and promote mental health at work. Three corrective alternatives were on the table: analyzing personal issues or aggregated data from the mental health survey and inviting open dialogue with employees to resolve the issues; partnering with mental health professionals or NGOs to design and deliver employee wellness programs; or rolling out a structured, manager-led blog post, video series and wellness nudges for employees. The case will allow instructors to explore how organizations – especially startups – should navigate sensitive employee issues and public messaging during moments of reputational risk. The case will help participants to assess the effectiveness of the campaign, ethical considerations in addressing sensitive issues such as mental health, evaluate damage control strategies and reflect on how mental health messaging can be handled with greater sensitivity and authenticity in the workplace to enhance employees’ trust and well-being. Complexity academic level This case is designed for use in undergraduate and graduate programs. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 6: Human Resource Management.