You can see Kiera Knightley in a British advertising campaign for the charitable organization Women’s Aid. Kiera took on the project to help raise awareness of domestic violence. The campaign consisted of a two minute commercial starring Keira as well as posters and online components. Cut is the name of the advertising campaign and the commercial for this campaign was directed by Joe Wright. The campaign drew a great deal of media attention, both in Britain and overseas. The advertising approval body in Britain, Clearcast prohibited the commercial from being shown on television their because of the violent scenes. The title of the campaign refers to the filmmaking practice of cutting.

Keira had worked with director Joe Wright on many projects before the campaign Cut. Other works they had been involved with include the films Pride and Prejudice and Atonement. They had also worked together on a commercial for Chanel perfume in 2008. Both Joe Wright and Keira donated their time to the Cut campaign; they also organized a team of around fifty other people to donate their time to help create the commercial. Others on the Cut project included the BAFTA nominated makeup artist Ivana Primorac and Academy Award nominated cinematographer Seamus McGarvey. The commercial was produced during January 2009 and was expected to be on air by April of that year.

The campaign was in fact well received by the public. The short film had over half a million viewers online in the first six days. This swiftly rose to over one million. Only two people who viewed the commercial wrote to complain about it to the Advertising Standards Authority. The media had mixed reactions to the commercial. Some found that it was a powerful way to send a message to young women; others did not see the point of the commercial. Cut became a financial and critical success. During the campaign the charity reported a thirty three percent increase in the awareness of the charity. The Cut campaign was shortlisted for a Cyber Lion at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.