A star-studded line-up of actors, musicians, and athletes appear in a new ad criticising the world's response to the Ebola crisis.
The public service announcement was created by international advocacy organisation ONE, and features Matt Damon, Bono, Ben Affleck, Morgan Freeman, Thandie Newton, Will Ferrell, and many other celebrities sitting in silence—waiting.
"This is what waiting looks like," the PSA's text reads. "Talk is cheap. It's time to take action on Ebola."
ONE CMO Roxy Philson said that in this case, silence communicated more than words.
"We thought of something silent to cut through the noise and to let it speak for itself," she told Yahoo News. "The world waited far too long to respond. While our leaders waited, many people paid with their lives.
"It stemmed from the thought that there's been plenty of talk, but not enough action. We didn't want to go down a conventional route," she explained.
The ad also features African musicians Fally Ipupa and Angélique Kidjo, and German soccer player Per Mertesacker.
The current Ebola crisis began in Guinea this spring, and quickly spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone. Over the past year, deaths in Nigeria, Mali, and the United States have been reported. Two American medical missionaries were among those successfully treated.
ONE President and CEO Michael Elliott said that not enough is being done to combat the disease's spread.
"Some countries have now stepped up to lead in a big way — with traditional donors like the US, UK, France and Germany all making meaningful contributions — but this is a global crisis, and it demands a global response," he said in a statement.
"It's not just bad news all the time," Philson added. "We have it in our power to change this. We've done it before, and we can do it again."
ONE was co-founded by U2 frontman Bono to end poverty and preventable diseases, and works with political leaders to bolster transparency and economic development.
