Nil by Mouth campaign says people need to realise there is a fine line between banter and bigotry

An anti-sectarian charity has compared bigots to clowns in its latest campaign.

Nil by Mouth has teamed up with students from the City of Glasgow College to devise a cartoon which aims to encourage people to think about their language and the line between banter and bigotry.

Featuring two men drinking in a pub, it shows them morphing into clowns as they continue to use sectarian language with one and another.

Nil by Mouth campaign director Dave Scott said the video isn’t about preaching or pointing fingers but highlighting the difference between humour and hatred.

“For most of the twentieth century many people were quick to dismiss sectarianism in Scotland as banter and even in 2017 there are those who excuse their own behaviour and attitudes by hiding behind the idea that abusing others is somehow funny,” he said.

“Real humour is laughing with people, not at them and this campaign seeks to encourage people to reflect on the type of language they use.

“We have always found that our most effective campaigns are those which harness the creativity and imagination of young people and the quality of the artwork and the clarity of the message produced by the students was exceptional.

“Their campaign isn’t about preaching or pointing fingers but highlighting the difference between humour and hatred.”

Along with supporting artwork the animation will be added to Nil by Mouth's nationwide Beyond Religion and Belief workplace training programme which has already been delivered to more than 10,000 staff across 95 workplaces since 2012.

The charity uses the programmed to discuss the link between language and attitudes, highlighting the consequences of verbal abuse for user, victim and often employers.

The collaboration between the charity and the college is the second campaign to emerge from the charity’s Pitch Perfect project which sees students compete to design a campaign aimed at raising awareness of sectarianism.

Ilda Csonka, one of the campaign creators, said: “Scotland is rightly proud of its reputation for humour and banter but during the course of this project we became increasingly aware that too many people often cross the line between banter and bigotry.

“We wanted to get people thinking about their words and actions and give individuals a chance to look in the mirror and see how their behaviour doesn’t just impact on others but also on how they themselves are perceived.”

You can watch the 90 second cartoon below but beware it contains stong and offensive language.