npr:

A young British girl unwraps a package from her mum — a stuffed animal. The child’s face breaks into a smile. But after this moment, her life in a war-torn London is stark: She gets a serving of gruel, reads in the dark, tries to keep warm with a cigarette lighter — then narrowly escapes a bombing, nearly drowns and is separated from her mother, who sacrifices her spot on a tugboat so her daughter can flee.

The 1 minute, 34 second video — “Still the Most Shocking Second a Day” — has amassed over 314,500 views in the five days since Save the Children released it. It’s the sequel to their 2014 viral video, “The Most Shocking Second a Day.” The ads, created by the global charity to raise awareness and funds for the Syrian refugee crisis, have gathered a ton of attention, both negative and positive, for using a British girl – not a Syrian girl — as the main character, and London – not Damascus or Aleppo or any other Syrian city – as the setting.

Are You More Sympathetic Because She’s British, And Not Syrian?

Photo: Save the Children