F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi Launches Erroneously Named ‘Stay Apes’ Campaign for Operation Smile

Sao Paulo-based F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi’s new integrated campaign for NGO Operation Smiles, “Stay Apes,” reminds us that “the act of sharing is what helped us evolve as a species.”

Operation Smile has worked in Brazil since 1997 and performed reconstructive surgery for cleft lip on over 5,600 needy children. But now, the org depends exclusively on local contributions and has apparently fallen on hard times.

That’s where “Stay Apes” comes in. F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi executive creative director Eduardo Lima hopes the effort will “remind people, especially non-donors, that the act of sharing is what helped us evolve as a species and should never be ignored.”

The spot was inspired by a Duke University study exploring the ancestral nature of empathy. It shows a monkey deciding to share its food with another monkey that it has never met before. Text saying “We were once all apes. Those were the days.” pops up, before directing viewers to give to NGO Operation Smile.

It’s an interesting approach to promote the act of sharing. There is one major flaw with the title of the spot, however: monkeys are not apes. We get it, though. “Stay primates” just doesn’t have the same ring to it. Credits after the jump.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.