How a non-profit fought the social media giants, armed with a bunch of t-shirts

Creative idea

EU classified domestic violence prevention messaging as political content, banning Naisten Linja from advertising on Meta and Microsoft platforms. The algorithm treated a women's crisis helpline as a political threat. We turned the ban into a campaign: printed the censored messages on clothing and sold it through the same platforms' commerce infrastructure. The helpline number, deemed too political to advertise, appeared on shirts worn in public. Creative work that started as a workaround became a direct challenge to systems that silence women's safety.

Brand name: Naisten Linja
Advertiser / client: Naisten Linja
Product / service: Naisten Linja helpline
Campaign name: The Banned Collection
Agency network: INDEPENDENT AGENCY
Agency: hasan & partners, Helsinki
Agency chief executive officer: Riku Vassinen
Chief creative officer: Riku Vassinen
Creative director: Ossi Honkanen
Art director: Antti Kaarto
Designer: Anssi Arte
Music: Epidemic Sound