An actual slice of life—captured in the context of home movies taken at a zoo—proves that at least some forms of reality TV can, for a change, provoke meaningful thought and serious reflection on our society. That is certainly the case in this PSA promoting The Center For Child Protection, a nonprofit Austin, Texas-headquartered organization formerly known as the Children’s Advocacy Center.
Titled "Gorilla," the spot consists primarily of footage from a visit to the zoo, as the camera shows us people walking from one attraction to the next.
A super against a black background reads, "In 1996, a three-year-old fell into a Chicago zoo’s gorilla cage."
Suddenly, other zoo-goers are looking down at the gorilla habitat, where a human toddler is laid out on the ground.
The next super relates, "A gorilla carried him to safety and waited until he could be rescued."
The home movie footage shows the gorilla cradling—and seemingly comforting—the fallen child.
A parting super then asks rhetorically, "If a gorilla can protect a child, why can’t we?"
An end tag contains The Center For Child Protection logo, accompanied by a phone number and Web site address (www.centerforchildprotection.org).
Ad agency The Peace Council came up with the idea of using the footage from that famous incident in ’96 in which a gorilla named Binti Jua actually saved a little boy’s life. The footage was donated anonymously to the Peace Council by a person who was shooting at the zoo during that time and wanted the footage to be used toward a good cause, in this case to benefit The Center for Child Protection, a Peace Council client.
The Peace Council is a nonprofit foundation dedicated to creating advertising that helps raise awareness about issues of social consequence. The key movers behind the longstanding Peace Council are Daniel Russ and Brent Ladd, whose day jobs are as senior VPs/group creative directors at GSD&M, Austin. Their Peace Council endeavors are separate from their duties at GSD&M.
The Peace Council has created public service ads over the years for various groups and causes. "Gorilla" was conceived to advance the charter mission of The Center For Child Protection—which is to reduce trauma for victims of child abuse during the investigation and prosecution of their cases. The Center For Child Protection provides a homelike, child-centered environment where kids who have reported abuse, along with their protective caregivers, can go for evaluation, crisis intervention, evidence gathering and counseling. All services are provided at no charge.
The Center For Child Protection is a member of the Travis County (Texas) Child Protection Team, which consists of the Travis County District Attorney’s Office, Child Protective Services, the Austin Police Department, the Travis County Sheriff’s Office, Children’s Hospital of Austin, and all other law enforcement jurisdictions within Travis County.
For the Peace Council, Russ was group creative director/copywriter and Ladd group creative director/art director on the PSA. Steve Miller of the Peace Council edited "Gorilla" and served as audio post mixer. (Miller is a group creative director at GSD&M.)
Jim Reed of 501 Post, Austin, was colorist/online editor. George O’Dwyer executive produced for 501 Post.
