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.
EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Fabio Fernandes | Eduardo Lima
HEAD OF ART: João Linneu
ART DIRECTOR: Bruno Oppido
COPYWRITER: Romero Cavalcanti
AGENCY PRODUCER: Victor Alloza | Renato Chabuh | Gisele Campos | Maira Massullo
ACCOUNT TEAM: Marcello Penna | Thiago Iussim | Mariana Braga | Natalie Gruc
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Movie&Art
DIRECTOR: Marcio Leitão
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Pepe Mendes
ART DIRECTOR: Amanda Stefani
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Juarez Malavazzi
EDITING: Marcio Leitão
POST-PRODUCTION: Alu Films
COLOR GRADING: Leandro Arouca
VFX: Henrique Fernandes
SOUND HOUSE: Supersonica
PRODUCER: Antonio Pinto