A new campaign from TBWA\Dublin and the Department of Justice and Equality has addressed the frightening lack of awareness in Ireland regarding sexual harassment and violence. The problem is that for too long in Ireland, totally unacceptable behaviour has been ignored or excused.

Des Creedon, creative director at TBWA\Dublin explains, “For us the process of creating a campaign always begins with a simple insight. What rang truest for us was the idea that in Ireland, whenever we observe or encounter sexual violence and sexual harassment, we’re inclined to absent ourselves of any responsibility - or worse still, excuse behaviour that’s totally inexcusable.”  

“For the purposes of raising awareness; fueling a wider conversation and inciting change we liked the idea of a campaign that evolved, or unfolded the issue for our audiences. With this in mind, the creative team of Niall McDonnell and Cian Tormey designed a campaign that first raised awareness of the issue but then reflected Ireland’s attitude towards sexual violence and harassment by reflecting the excuses we make for such behaviour”

The first film, directed by Brendan Canty and produced by Antidote films, shows five relatable and unfortunately almost ‘everyday’ scenes of groping, physical harassment, domestic violence all the way to a potential sexual assault. The relatability of these scenes was paramount - because they demonstrate how sexual harassment and violence easily coalesce within the Ireland we know. The voiceover for the ad, Stephen James Smith, simply asks: Is this a problem?

Head of account management, Paula Kelly, explains: “We used the first version of the ad as a catalyst to get the people of Ireland to question themselves and their own behaviours. And this it certainly did. But once the problem is identified we knew we need to do more to try and create meaningful change” 

TBWA\Dublin then relayed the scenes to a series of focus groups and recorded their reactions; the reasons they gave to explain the actions of the actors in each scene. This re-edited version became the basis of the second phase of broadcast.

A truly responsive campaign, powered by Ireland’s excuses.