Would you stop if you saw a little girl lost and alone on the street? That’s what Unicef is asking viewers in its recent campaign “Fight Unfair” – Social experiment test.
The charity’s compelling social experiment tasked child actor Anano, aged six, to pretend to be homeless to test the public’s reaction.
Anona is seen wondering the streets alone and going into cafes alone – first as wealthy child with a fresh outfit and clean face, then as a poor child with soot on her face and dirty clothes.
In the first instance, Anona was checked upon by concerned strangers who stopped to ask if she was okay. Most smiled at her and tried to confirm why she was standing in the street alone, many let her sit beside them as they ate in the café.
The second situation provoked a different reaction from passers-by with Anona being largely ignored by adults, with one eater in the bistro demanding staff put her back out on the street.
Unicef was forced to stop the social experiment after this because the actor was upset. “Because my face was covered in soot and my clothes were all dirty. This made me sad. They were all telling me to go away,” she said.
The spot was created by the group in partnership with Switch Communications to raise awareness of its recent study which revealed that 167 million children will be living in poverty by 2030, and that the world’s poorest children are twice as likely to die before their fifth birthday.
