Cut is a British advertising campaign launched in 2009 by the charitable organisation Women's Aid to promote awareness of domestic violence.

The campaign drew a significant amount of media attention, especially after advertising approval body Clearcast prohibited the short film from appearing on even post-watershed television, due to several particularly violent scenes.

He cuts off her reply by throwing the towel back in her face and, when she tries to protest, strikes her to the ground and proceeds to yank her hair and kick her several times in the chest.

Since the appointment of advertising agency Grey London to handle the marketing of Women's Aid in 2005,[3] they had worked on a number of publicity campaigns for the feminist charitable organisation.

[7] Noel Bussey of Campaign magazine said of the series: "Many agencies pull out their best work when it's for charity, but rarely is it this effective, so well shot or so close to the brief.

[9] Keira Knightley had worked with director Joe Wright on a number of projects prior to Cut, including the feature films Pride & Prejudice and Atonement,[10] and a 2008 television commercial for Chanel perfume.

[11] The assembled team included BAFTA-nominated make-up artist Ivana Primorac[12] and cinematographer Seamus McGarvey, whose work with Wright on Atonement earned him an Academy Award nomination.

Women's Aid refused to make the modifications, instead electing to eschew television and concentrate on the cinema, online, and print aspects of the campaign.

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown of The Independent supported the piece, saying: "I know seeing her heroine Keira Knightley being knocked about by her lover will shake and wake my daughter up to this crime.

During the period in which the campaign ran in cinemas and print, metrics reported a 33% increase in awareness of the charity, and Women's Aid received a 50% rise in people looking to make a donation.