Tourette's Hurts

A lot of people think Tourette’s is ‘just’ about swearing. It’s not. A lot of people think Tourette’s is funny. It’s not. In reality, it hurts, both physically and emotionally. The hundreds of involuntary tics it causes every day can cause bloody knuckles, broken bones, whiplash. The verbal tics it causes can lead to alienation and ridicule. No wonder people with the condition are four times more likely to die by suicide than the general population. To help people understand the truth of the condition – and just how damaging it is – we created the campaign #TourettesHurts.

Our powerful OOH poster campaign captured the imagination of the UK public. It was built from compelling headlines and visuals, whilst heroing real members of the Tourette’s community. The campaign also promoted Tourette’s Awareness Month, which ran from 15th May - 15th June, with the official awareness day on 7th June. As well as changing public perception, we bolstered the reputation of Tourettes Action as the UK’s only national TS charity, and drove website visitors, helpdesk contacts, and social media followers.

How? Our idea was to dramatise the pain of daily tics by quantifying it with bold language that everyone could understand. We landed on headlines such as ‘My skin catches fire every day’, ‘I’m in a car crash every day’ and ‘I get beaten to a pulp every day.’ We photographed members of the Tourette's community and put the headlines at an angle, as if colliding with the person, amplifying the sense of discomfort.

The work is unignorable. The dark backgrounds and angled lighting add drama that throws the real expressions of pain very much in the spotlight. It challenges misconceptions and has led to greater funding for a condition that’s much mocked and misunderstood. It’s been picked up on LinkedIn, on X, in digital magazines, on podcasts and featured on TFL’s ‘Thought of the Day’, BBC Breakfast and BBC News at One. It’s given a voice to people whose research is underfunded, who are ignored, mocked and isolated. It’s changing preconceptions, and in doing so, it’s changing lives.