AUCKLAND, Today: You’re usually told to pay attention. But this campaign is asking you not to. For Tourette’s Awareness Month, TANZ and Saatchi & Saatchi have flipped the script with Please Ignore It.
The campaign challenges the usual awareness playbook — because for people with Tourette’s, more attention can actually make things worse. That simple insight shaped the entire creative direction.
“When someone has a tic, the last thing they want is more attention,” says Emma Henderson, TANZ General Manager.
“Most people think of Tourette’s as the neurological disorder that makes people swear or shout profanities, which is a form of tic that only impacts 10% of people with Tourette’s.
So, when they meet or see someone with other types of tics, they’re often caught off guard and unsure how to respond.
What they don’t realise is that drawing focus to the tic – whether through staring, pointing it out awkwardly, or falling into awkward silences – can actually increase that person’s stress, making their tics even more frequent or pronounced.
That’s why we’re giving people one simple piece of advice: please ignore it.”
“People with Tourette’s get unwanted attention 12 months of the year. We wanted to draw attention to the fact they’d rather not be drawing your attention.”
Despite 1 in 100 young Kiwis experiencing tics or Tourette’s, the condition isn’t considered a disability in New Zealand. That means zero government funding — only grants and donations.
“People with Tourette’s get unwanted attention 12 months of the year. We wanted to draw attention to the fact they’d rather not be drawing your attention,” says Jordan Sky, Executive Creative Director at Saatchi.
“It’s great when the creative answer to a brief is right there in the brief,” adds Chief Creative Officer Steve Cochran. “An ad asking you to ignore it means you can’t help but pay attention.
This irony makes the message all the more potent, helping educate people about Tourette’s and how to behave around it.”
The campaign’s bold, brash visuals mimic the unpredictability of a tic — loud colours, jagged fonts, and shifting intensity. It’s designed to disrupt, just like Tourette’s does.
Running from 15 May to 15 June, Please Ignore It will appear across radio, digital, outdoor and social, thanks to media support from NZME, MediaWorks, LUMO, Stuff, oOh! Media and more.
CREDITS
Tourette’s Association of New Zealand General Manager: Emma Henderson
Creative Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi NZ
Chief Executive Officer: Mark Cochrane
Chief Creative Officer: Steve Cochran
Executive Creative Director: Jordan Sky
Art Director: Milla Mihaljevich
Copywriter: Lane Pilkington
Strategy Director: Brendan Greenwell
Senior Designer: Shiv Narandas
Intermediate Designer: Laura Cooper
Digital Designer: Nelson Rayner
Junior Designers: Talia Schofield, Logan Walsh
Senior Business Director: Camille Coltman
Business Manager: Frances Nadan
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