Whatever You Call It: Let the Euphemism Open a Clearer Conversation

Read the campaign story

The joke begins with the words used to avoid the subject. Marie Curie’s 2019 Whatever You Call It campaign animated euphemisms for death with Saatchi & Saatchi London and Moth Studio. Moth describes choosing recognizable everyday objects with added eyes rather than elaborate humanlike characters. Contemporary November coverage places the work across several media. The playful visual treatment serves an invitation to talk, not a claim that the underlying subject is simple.

Editorial interpretation: a familiar phrase can become visible enough for an audience to notice its own habit of speaking indirectly. That recognition creates a possible opening, but it can also become another way to avoid the actual conversation. The creative problem is therefore not solved by making an uncomfortable topic entertaining. The transition from the joke to the plain invitation is part of the idea. The audience should understand what conversation is being offered, why it might matter and that they can decide whether the moment is appropriate for them.

The production and launch accounts establish the creative approach, not improved wellbeing or any particular planning outcome. No lyrics, source script, personal bereavement account or private health history is reproduced. This case gives no medical, legal or end-of-life planning advice. It does not ask a reader to disclose a loss or initiate a difficult conversation. The original exercise moves the communication mechanism to a low-stakes fictional arts-team feedback setting, where participation can remain optional and impersonal.

Identify what the indirect wording is protecting

For a fictional community exhibition team, a reviewer might say an unfinished label is interesting when they actually mean its main point is unclear. The indirect phrase can protect politeness, uncertainty or the speaker’s reluctance to criticize. Do not assume that every euphemism is dishonest or should be eliminated. First identify what useful social job the phrase performs. An effective invitation to speak more plainly should preserve consideration while reducing ambiguity, rather than rewarding the bluntest possible response.

Keep the creative object easy to recognize

In the invented feedback workshop, an original illustrated label could literally wander away from its subject to show how a sentence loses focus. The visual need not acquire a complicated personality or an unrelated comic story. A simple object leaves room for the viewer to recognize the language mechanism. Keep the metaphor distinct from the actual draft so that participants can discuss the example without feeling personally exposed. The goal is to clarify an avoidant phrase, not stage a performance at someone’s expense.

Write the plain invitation before polishing the joke

The fictional workshop might conclude with an optional prompt: identify one sentence whose purpose is difficult to follow and suggest a clearer version. That is more usable than a general request to be honest. Place the prompt beside the visual and allow a private written response. If the joke is memorable but nobody knows what response is welcome, improve the transition. The light treatment should lower an entry barrier while leaving the task, boundaries and choice to participate unmistakable.

A small test for another brief

Proposed adaptation: create an original humorous card about vague exhibition feedback and a direct card containing the same optional editing task. Use an invented label, no real colleague’s work and no death-related imagery or personal questions. Ask consenting adults what each version invites them to do and whether the lighter opening changes the meaning or merely the mood. Let reviewers skip the exercise or respond in writing. The task is a communication comparison, not a test of emotional openness.

Compare task understanding, unwanted pressure and the kinds of edits offered. Laughter or recall alone cannot establish that a conversation became more useful. Keep the observation limited to the invented workshop and avoid projecting it onto sensitive real-life discussions.

Revise if humor trivializes the concern, creates an obligation to disclose or leaves the actual invitation obscure. A more considerate direct version may be preferable to a clever treatment whose audience cannot tell what is expected.

• Name the function of the indirect phrase.
• Use one legible original visual device.
• Place a plain optional prompt beside the creative treatment.