Covering up bad prison tattoos for social rehabilitation isn't an obvious charity, but it's the primary function of the Freedom Tattoos project, a service provided by Poland's Pedagogium The College of Social Sciences and ad agency Isobar Poland.

The tall and short of it is that they help integrate ex-cons back into society by covering up prison tattoos with professionally done, aesthetically pleasing ones.

An American audience may be likely to blow this off, thinking that said ex-cons made a rational choice to get those tattoos in prison and thus deserve no sympathy. But the video from Isobar addresses this in a lovely way. The ad is a montage of two women getting their bad tattoos covered, as a voiceover observes: "If they decided to get tattoos, then it means that they wanted to express something."

Finally, someone gets it.

The ad casts what Freedom Tattoos does as an extension of its subjects' personal growth, rather than a matter of hiding their mistakes. Not only is that a smart move, it's a more accurate and inspiring mission statement.

CREDITS

Client: Pedagogium The College of Social Sciences

Agency: Isobar Poland

Managing Creative Director: Maciej Nowicki

Senior Copywriter: Jan Cieślar

Senior Art Director: Rafał Ryś

Account Manager: Agnieszka Gilewska

PR: Monika Witoń

Production: Film Fiction