WebHits: Matt Damon’s ‘Toilet strike’

WebHits — Rappler’s choice for video of the day. Send us your suggestions for our next WebHits on Twitter @rapplerdotcom, using the hashtag #webhits. 

MANILA, Philippines – Have you ever heard of world toilet day?

Actor Matt Damon, co-founder of Water.org, resorts to humor to spread the message in a YouTube video the organization hopes will go viral.

YouTube spokesperson Jessica Mason tells the Los Angeles Times, “We’re seeing a lot of campaigns that take a more humorous approach.” Water.org’s community outreach head Mike McCamon says “People just aren’t shocked by statistics anymore.” Water.org’s chief marketing officer Jennifer Tisdel Schorsch says “if it’s funny, and it makes you think, that’s very powerful.”

In a “news conference”, Damon announces he is beginning a “toilet strike,” saying: “In protest of this global tragedy, until this issue is resolved, until everyone has access to clean water and sanitation … I will not go to the bathroom.”

Damon says the toilet “has saved more lives than any other in the history of humankind.” He adds 780 million people lack access to clean water. 2.5 billion people lack access to a toilet or basic sanitation. He adds, “I mean more people have cell phones that have toilets.”

Water.org spent less than $100,000 producing the ad in contrast to a Super Bowl ad that costs $4 million.

The actors in the Damon video who wrote, produced, and directed the sketch worked for little or no salary. – Rappler.com