As the Patriots get ready for another Super Bowl, New England superfan Matt Damon wants to use the hype around this weekend’s big game to help out a good cause that’s close to his heart.
The Boston star’s Water.org foundation has teamed up with Stella Artois for a new campaign aimed at tackling the global water crisis by giving people in the developing world better access to this critical human need. Through April 15, every pint of Stella Artois sold at a bar or 12-pack purchased in stores will raise funds for the initiative in hopes of providing cleaning water to more than 1 million people over the next five years. Special edition chalices are also being sold for the campaign.
After a Super Bowl ad for the cause hit the web last week, Stella Artois released another video for the fundraiser on Friday that should help drive the point home.
Since many women in the developing world have to spend around six hours collecting water every day just to survive, the clip featured unsuspecting restaurant guests who were told that they would have to wait the same amount of time before getting their own glass of water. Let’s just say that these first world folks weren’t too happy to hear that news, until Damon surprised them with a video message explaining the situation.
“It’s hard for us to truly imagine what it would be like to not have access to water,” Damon says in the video. “But for 663 million people in the developing world, reality is different. Millions of people spend up to six hours every single day just to collect water. Can you imagine what that would be like?”
“We’ve learned this issue is hard for many people to relate to because clean, accessible water is a constant presence in their lives,” Damon said in a statement. “Yet for millions around the world, this isn’t the case. Our challenge is to help create that understanding.”
Check out Damon’s Water.org and Stella Artois ad that will air during the Super Bowl below.
