PSA for Children's Charity Reminds Us That Giving Is in Our Genes

We’ve heard over and over that what separates humans from animals is the ability to feel emotions like compassion, and the subsequent ability to make a conscious choice whether or not to act on such emotions.

But maybe this is something we share with animals — not only that; just maybe they are better at it than we are.

Not many PSAs or non-profit promos ask viewers to devolve in order to tap into their inherent kindness and concern for others, but this spot by F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi for Operação Sorriso (Operation Smile) —a group that funds reconstructive surgeries for children with cleft lip — asks us to do just that, in a powerful and hard-to-ignore way.

The ad, inspired by a scientific study at Duke that explored the ancestral nature of empathy, shows two apes meeting for the first time in a lab.

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