We may stand a little straighter, and have slightly less hair than our ape relatives, but when it comes to how we treat one another, we shouldn’t be trying to evolve quite so much.
At least that’s what we’ve learned from a new ad released by a struggling charity.
Operation Smile, a nonprofit that gives free reconstructive surgeries to kids with cleft palate and lip, is facing serious financial problems in Brazil. To encourage donors to get involved, the nonprofit recently released a moving spot that doesn’t rely on gruesome images of suffering kids.
Instead, it simply speaks directly to our innate nature to help each other out.
Inspired by a Duke University scientific study on empathy, the ad features two apes who have never met. One is locked up in a cage, and the other is treated to a generous helping of fruits and vegetables. But once the feasting ape hears the cries of the incarcerated animal nearby, he lets him out and the pair breaks bread together.
The goal of the ad is "to remind people, especially non-donors, that the act of sharing is what helped us evolve as a species and should never be ignored,” Eduardo Lima, Executive Creative Director of F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi –- the company that produced ad – said in a statement.
Now these are cousins we are certainly proud to have.
If you’re feeling instinctually driven to help out kids in need of life-altering surgery, find out how you can get involved with Operation Smile's "Stay Apes" campaign here.
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