The Brief

Lionsgate came to us with a tough challenge: how do you sell the tenth instalment of a franchise known for shock value… without people rolling their eyes?

The answer? Make them look. Twice.

With Saw X, Lionsgate were resurrecting an icon. For UK audiences, the brief was to bring this resurrection to the streets with a bus-side campaign that was as confrontational as the film itself. Our challenge was to match the intensity of the film’s gore-soaked poster without alienating a public audience (or the transport regulators).

This wasn’t a subtle film. And it wouldn’t work with a subtle poster. The visual we had to work with was a man in an iron mask screaming, twin glass tubes piercing his eyes, bleeding upwards like inverted stakes. Harrowing, high-contrast, impossible to ignore, very divisive.

They handed us a key artwork, a gruesome, horrible image of tubes protruding from a man’s eyes, and asked what we could do with it. Not subtle. Not for the faint-hearted. And definitely not made for the London bus network.

But I love a challenge.

Strategy & Research

This wasn’t Saw X in name only, it was a return to form. A midquel set between Saw I and II, positioning John Kramer not just as a villain, but as a tragic anti-hero. I researched the full lore, studied the new script, and rewatched early films to understand Jigsaw’s philosophy, justice through pain, punishment with purpose.

Key insights:

Horror fans wanted continuity and callbacks.
Casual audiences needed the hook, this one’s personal.
The film had soul, not just splatter. But the poster? All splatter. The copy had to bridge that.

We were careful. The film deals with medical trauma, death, and personal revenge. It's horror, yes, but grounded in real-life fears. That meant steering clear of anything too “cheeky” or exploitative. We didn’t lean into “trap porn.” We leaned into psychological tension. That restraint paid off in credibility and controversy.

Copywriting & Tagline Development

We explored a wide range of directions: moral warnings, ironic justice, killer one-liners, and eye-related puns (the artwork left us no choice).

The winning Taglines were:
“An Eye for an Eye.” for the UK. Blunt and perfectly Saw, it mirrored the trap, nodded to Jigsaw’s moral code, and echoed the revenge arc that drives the film.
You Can’t Unsee Saw. for Ireland. A tongue-in-cheek warning, funny to horror fans, ominous to everyone else.

We tested dozens of lines to make sure the tone didn’t lean into parody or tortureporn clichés. It had to:

Feel like a return to myth
Be minimal (nobody wants to read on a moving bus)
Create a moral or emotional sting

A few routes explored:

Justice bleeds both ways.
You think you're watching. You're being judged.
He’s back. And he’s watching.
Pain has a purpose.
Justice sees all.
What you see is what you deserve.
He saw too much.
Justice sees red.
You looked away.
Vision is a weapon.
See you soon.
Eye spy, you die.
Keep an eye out.
Look alive.
Sight for sore crimes.
Eye don’t think so.
Blink and you’re dead.
Don’t look now.
A real eye-opener.
The last thing you’ll see.
Got my eye on you.
Feast your eyes.
Retribution looks back.
Not a sequel. A sentence.
Some things can't be unseen.
He saw everything. Now he sees red.
You watched. You looked away. Now it’s your turn.
Don’t lose sight of mercy.
Look closer. Then scream.
One glance. One judgment. One trap.
He sees your lies. So pick one to lose.
You saw nothing. He sees everything.
Don’t turn a blind eye.
Every eye lies. Every trap listens.
Justice never blinks.
Vision costs blood.
See it. Survive it.
Looking won't save you.
No witness walks free.
Looking sharp.
Stare all you want. You’re next.

We kept circling back to simplicity. One line. One nerve. An eye for an eye.

The Response

The internet couldn’t look away.

Reddit loved it. Dozens of threads, fan reactions, memes, and think pieces on “the most disturbing ad of the year.”

Twitter joined in. The phrase “An Eye for an Eye” trended in horror circles. The creative got people talking, the holy grail of OOH. Countless memes, videos, quotes of the bus were shared.

Mumsnet revolted. Parents were outraged, concerned, absolutely horrified.. It became a mini-scandal. But a scandal is attention, I suppose? Albeit not our target market.

Even I was surprised it passed TFL regulations. It shouldn’t have. But it did. And it slayed.

This campaign worked because…

The image did the shock. The copy gave it meaning.
The tagline didn’t just describe, it provoked. Curiosity, and anger. A moral seesaw, just like the movie.
We kept it simple. Short, concise words that say everything about justice, pain, and personal revenge.

It was an ad you couldn’t look past. Because it was on the road. In your face. And in your head.