Blame Hollywood, but being a loner; or lacking a sense of belonging, has always retained a sense of cool. Think James Dean, Steve McQueen, Marlon Brando.

The further someone pushed themselves outside of the orbit of others, the more interesting they became. Whether it was because of them shirking off family and friends, or fighting ‘the man’. They developed a carapace from the age-old practice of not giving a shit.

Yet, the reality for many of those movie stars, who made a living portraying rebels without a cause, was a sense of being at odds with the world around them. Without the romanticism of the silver screen, their status as loners often became little more than plain loneliness.

It’s something explored now in far greater detail, especially in the form of protagonists from recent shows such as Patrick Melrose and Sharp Objects. Being a loner – or to dispense with the romanticism, lonely – is no longer something celebrated, but something portrayed in its complexity.

And it’s a topic brands are engaging more and more. The John Lewis Christmas ad from 2015, ‘Man on the Moon’ worked elderly loneliness into their normally whimsical seasonal TV spot. The partnership with Age UK highlighted to the masses the impact being alone can have on people at Christmas.

More and more brands and advertisers are dealing with loneliness in all its forms too. It’s estimated that 9 million people in the UK suffer from it, prompting a Minister for Loneliness to be appointed by Downing Street in January this year. Whilst in the US, health insurance giant Cigna ran a survey that concluded 40% of the country “lacked companionship” or were “isolated from others”.

Loneliness is something that affects the young and the old, and in a multitude of ways that are far from the black and white loners of the silver screen. Brands are starting to explore the complexity – both in the problems, and how to advertise their solutions.