According to research by Abeso, 72% of fat-shaming happens by family members at home. Usually with phrases disguised as affection, but which only cause pain, such as: "you're not all bad, your face is pretty"; "you're so much prettier thin".These phrases are culturally disseminated as a way to show concern for the health of your relatives. But in fact, they only cause more pain and drive people with obesity away from seeking medical help. Novo Nordisk, a global leader in obesity care that believes health doesn't weigh itself, must create a means to make families realize what was actually happening at home.

We created the first gift collection that no one should take home: Don't Take Me.

A collection created through the most given gift as a demonstration of affection: cuddly plush - featuring the most popular fat-shaming phrases according to social data.

The pieces were exhibited in two unique stores in Brazil's largest malls. And the public could personally get to know the phrases displayed on the plush, making everybody reconsider what they're saying to their loved ones at home.

People with obesity take an average of 6 years to seek medical help. And one of the main factors is fat-shaming. Then we found that family members are responsible for 72% of these cases. And the vast majority of the time, relatives have no idea how everyday comments carry a huge amount of prejudice and push people with obesity even further away from seeking any kind of professional help. Novo Nordisk, with the mission to decrease the average time to seek medical help, decided to show relatives of people with obesity the destructive power of comments that come disguised as caring opinions, but that only cause harm.

With the purpose of making family members of people with obesity aware of the problems these phrases generate, we displayed the collection in two unique stores in one of the spaces most frequented by families: shopping malls. Each store was filled with plush items handcrafted by a collective of women artisans. Each of the pieces carried the fat-shaming phrases most commonly said by family members. Inside each plush, there was an audio device with a testimonial from a person with obesity explaining how those phrases have a negative effect on seeking medical help. In addition to giving visibility to the plushies, the store was filled with messages of obesity awareness. With the help of hosts, people take a tour - understanding the effect of those phrases and reconsidering their use at home.

We went viral in the first few hours, with more than 1.5 million organic views on Tik Tok. On digital, we had 100 million impacts and 90 million people reached. Increasing 1163% the conversations about fat-shaming and showing that nobody should take those sentences home anymore. Because the only standard that matters is the standard of health.