In this campaign, there are literally no excuses for abuse

'No excuse for abuse', a campaign for Australian non-profit Our Watch by Thinkerbell, lives up to its title by literally silencing people who try to make excuses for abusive behaviour.

It's ingenious. The moment the people—both perpetrators and victims—try to explain away a controlling, dehumanising behaviour, their voices become inaudible and their subtitles become illegible. The viewer, of course, tries to mentally fill in the muted/obscured words, only to realise that nothing the person could possibly say would actually justify the behaviour. And there you go: In just a few seconds you're not only more aware of non-physical abuse than you might have been, but also more primed to object to it if you see someone engaging in it, or tolerating it.  

Thinkerbell bills itself as an agency that's uncommonly dedicated to blending behavioural science and creativity, and Ad Nut is inclined to believe it based on this work. It seems so simple, but each vignette is really a cleverly constructed puzzle designed to entice your intellectual attention in order to create more empathy than a straightforward telling might conjure. 

Ad Nut also liked another recent Thinkerbell campaign: What does Australia taste like? Vegemite, apparently

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