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Cut
print ad promoting Cut
AgencyGrey London
ClientWomen's Aid
LanguageEnglish
Running time120 seconds
Release date(s)6 April 2009 (cinema)[1]
Directed byJoe Wright
Music by"Vengeance Drools" by Clark[2]
Starring
Production
company		DAB Hand Media
Produced byDominic Delaney
Country United Kingdom
Official websitehttp://www.womensaid.org.uk/

Cut is a British advertising campaign launched in 2009 by the charitable organisation Women's Aid to promote awareness of domestic violence. The campaign was created by advertising agency Grey London, and centres on a 120-second commercial starring Keira Knightley. The commercial was supported by poster and online components. Cut was directed by Joe Wright and produced by Dominic Delaney. Post-production work was handled by Big Buoy and Prime Focus. The campaign drew a significant amount of media attention, especially after advertising approval body Clearcast prohibited the short film from appearing on even post-watershed television, due to several particularly violent scenes. The title of the piece refers to the filmmaking practice of cutting.

Sequence

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Cut opens with a young actress, played by Keira Knightley, leaving the set after a day's work. The actress drives home, wiping off her make-up in the car. When she arrives at her apartment, she calls to her boyfriend before finding a shattered mirror and a trail of blood across the floor into the kitchen. When she turns around, she sees her boyfriend's knuckles are bloodied and offers him a towel. He snaps it out of her hand. He then asks about the scenes with the leading man and whether her scenes with him "felt real". He cuts off her reply by throwing the towel back in her face and, when she tries to protest, strikes her to the ground and proceeds to yank her hair and kick her several times in the chest. The camera zooms out to reveal that the room is an otherwise empty set. The tagline "Isn't it time someone called Cut?" appears, followed by the statistic that two women die as a result of domestic abuse each week, and a request for a donation of £2 a month.

Background and production

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Keira Knightley

Since the appointment of advertising agency Grey London to handle the marketing of Women's Aid in 2005,[3] they had worked on a number of publicity campaigns for the feminist charitable organisation. In 2006, their Valentine's Day campaign, with a budget of just £500, reached an estimated 52% of adults within the United Kingdom[4] and generated editorial coverage worth an estimated €613,000.[5] Comprising spots in print, posters, and radio, the campaign received wide critical acclaim, including an Aerial Award,[6] a Euro Effie Award,[5] and an IPA Effectiveness Award.[4] The following year marked the launch of the What's it going to take? campaign. What's it going to take? centred on a series of images taken by British photographer Rankin, of a number of female British celebrities, including Anna Friel and Honor Blackman. Cosmetics were applied to the celebrities to give them the appearance of having been beaten.[7] Noel Bussey of Campaign magazine said of the series: "Many agencies pull out their best work when it's for charity, but rarely is it this effective, so well shot or so close to the brief."[8] Women's Aid went to win the 2007 Campaigning Team of the Year award at the Charity Times Gala Awards in London for the work surrounding the What's it going to take? campaign.[9]

Keira Knightley had worked with director Joe Wright on a number of projects prior to Cut, including the feature films Pride & Prejudice and Atonement,[10] and a 2008 television commercial for Chanel perfume.[1] The pair volunteered their time for Cut at no charge, and convinced a team of around fifty others to do so as well.[11] The assembled team included BAFTA-nominated make-up artist Ivana Primorac[12] and cinematographer Seamus McGarvey, whose work with Wright on Atonement earned him an Academy Award nomination.[13] Filming took place in January 2009, and the piece was intended to begin airing on 2 April.[14]

Release and reception

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It was intended that Cut begin broadcasting simultaneously on post-watershed television and during trailers for 15-rated films in cinemas from 2 April 2009. However, when the commercial was sent for approval by Clearcast, the advertising authority refused permission for Cut to appear on British television either before or after the watershed.[10] Clearcast advised that the final scene of Cut, in which Knightley's character is being kicked repeatedly by her boyfriend, was too violent and likely to cause offense, and therefore demanded that the scene be removed from the piece before it could be televised. Women's Aid refused to make the modifications, instead electing to eschew television and concentrate on the cinema, online, and print aspects of the campaign. Cut made its debut at cinemas on 6 April.[1] Media space was donated by the cinema advertising companies Pearl & Dean, Digital Cinema Media, and Admedia.[15] The ad also appeared online, both at a dedicated microsite and on video sharing website YouTube. This online component was backed up with a series of print advertisements created by Grey London creative director Nils Leonard.[16]

The campaign was received well by the public. Within six days the film had over half a million hits online,[17] swiftly rising to over a million.[18] Of those who viewed Cut, only two wrote to complain to the Advertising Standards Authority.[10] Clearcast's decision to block the piece from appearing on television was widely lambasted.[19] Reactions by the media to the ad itself were mixed. Yasmin Alibhai-Brown of The Independent supported the piece, saying: "I know seeing her heroine Keira Knightley being knocked about by her lover will shake and wake my daughter up to this crime. Nothing I can say will have the same impact."[20] However, Kira Cochrane of The Guardian was more critical, saying: "[O]nce the initial horror had passed, I was left wondering about the point of the ad. [...] [T]here's something about a celebrity being used to represent a domestic violence victim that makes me feel slightly queasy."[21] It was also featured as one of the top ten celebrity advertisements of 2009 in Campaign magazine.[22] Irrespective of these differing opinions, Cut has proven to be a financial and critical success. During the period in which the campaign ran in cinemas and print, metrics reported a 33% increase in awareness of the charity, and Women's Aid received a 50% rise in people looking to make a donation.[23] The campaign was also shortlisted for a Cyber Lion at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, considered[24][25][26][27] one of the most prestigious awards in the advertising industry.[17]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Sweney, Mark; "Keira Knightley stars in ad campaign against domestic violence", The Guardian, 2 April 2009. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
  2. ^ "Top Spots", Boards, 1 May 2009. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
  3. ^ "http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/news/search/519922/ Hotline: Grey London appointed to handle Women's Aid's account]", Campaign, 30 September 2005. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
  4. ^ a b "IPA Effectiveness Awards 2006: Bronze Awards[permanent dead link‍]", Campaign, 3 November 2006. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
  5. ^ a b "Grey EMEA Lands Hat-Trick at EACA Euro Effies", PR Newswire, 27 September 2007. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
  6. ^ Darby, Ian; "Grey duo Smith and Butler scoop Aerial[permanent dead link‍]", Campaign, 26 March 2006. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
  7. ^ Williams, Eliza; "Celebrities Beaten Up for Women's Aid Archived 2011-07-25 at the Wayback Machine", Creative Review, 1 February 2007. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
  8. ^ Bussey, Noel; "Pick of the week - Grey/Women's Aid[permanent dead link‍]", Campaign, 2 February 2007. Retrieved September 2009.
  9. ^ "Women's Aid Federation of England Report and Financial Statements[permanent dead link‍]", Charity Commission for England and Wales, 31 March 2008. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
  10. ^ a b c Shields, Rachel; "'Too violent' Knightley advert banned from TV", The Independent, 26 April 2009. Retrieved September 2009.
  11. ^ Schmidt, Veronica; "Keira Knightley beaten up by boyfriend in domestic violence advert[dead link‍]", The Times, 2 April 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  12. ^ Bussey, Noel; "Keira Knightley takes a beating in new Women's Aid ad[permanent dead link‍]", Campaign, 2 April 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  13. ^ Williams, Eliza; "Keira Knightley stars in Women's Aid ad Archived 2011-07-25 at the Wayback Machine", Creative Review, 2 April 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  14. ^ "Knightley in violent charity ad", BBC News, 2 April 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  15. ^ Alarcon, Cameron; "Womens Aid teams up with Keira Knightley", Marketing Week, 2 April 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  16. ^ "Outdoor Lions Entries: Cut[permanent dead link‍]", Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival Authority, 2009. Retrieved September 9, 2009.
  17. ^ a b "Cyber Lions Shortlist: Cut[permanent dead link‍]", Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival Authority, 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2009. [dead link‍]
  18. ^ Johnston, Ian; "Cuts demanded in Keira Knightley's anti-domestic violence advert", The Telegraph, 27 April 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  19. ^ "It seems pathetic. It is really important to raise awareness about domestic violence, and TV gets into people’s homes" - Sandra Horely, chief executive of the charitable women's shelter organisation "Refuge" (taken from "Keira's violent ad censored", The New Zealand Herald, 28 April 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2009.)
  20. ^ Alibhai-Brown, Yasmin; "Let's hear it for our luvvies when they do such good", The Independent, 6 April 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  21. ^ Cochrane, Kira; "Battered, Hollywood-style", The Guardian, 3 April 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  22. ^ "Campaign Annual 2009 - Top 10 celebrity ads", Campaign, 10 December 2009. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
  23. ^ "Does shock advertising still work?[permanent dead link‍]", Campaign, 27 April 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  24. ^ Howard, Theresa; "Fewer ads entered at Cannes Lions as fewer people attend", USA Today, 21 June 2009. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
  25. ^ "Bark Copenhagen Nominated for Prestigious Cannes Lions Advertising Award", Marketwire, 2 June 2009. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
  26. ^ Agarwal, Sapna; "Indian entries, registrations to Cannes Lions see a drop", Business Standard, 19 June 2009. Retrieved September 2009.
  27. ^ Herzog, Boaz; " Nike Will Receive Honor at Cannes Lions Advertising Festival., The Oregonian, 12 February 2003. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
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