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differences

There's some science to back up Heineken's ad campaign.

You won't find parties, loud music, or scantily-clothed women in Heineken's 2017 ad campaign.

Instead, the beer company went in a wonderfully different direction.

The company's #OpenYourWorld campaign is the exact opposite of what we've come to expect from decades of beer ads. The premise of the ad is simple: get two people who disagree with each other on a particular issue, place them in a room together, and let them talk it out over a beer.

Image via Heineken/YouTube.

The ad features people who disagree on issues like climate change, feminism, and transgender rights.

There's one important catch: The two people don't know they disagree with each other when they first sit down.

After a few minutes of getting to know each other, the pair is shown short videos that reveal their dissenting opinions on a particular topic.

Drama! GIF via Heineken/YouTube.

They're then given a choice: They can leave, or they can try to hash out their differences over a beer. (It is a beer ad, after all.)

What makes the ad so brilliant is the flurry of emotions that cross each person's face immediately after the big reveal.

"That's not right," one of the participants says in his pre-recorded video, taking a confidently anti-transgender stance. "You're a man, be a man; or you're a female, be a female."

As the tape rolls, the woman he's been speaking with looks to the ground, appearing uncomfortable and anxious. She is transgender. It was a powerful, intimidating, and suspenseful moment.

It looks like he's about to leave, but does he? GIF via Heineken/YouTube.

By the end of the ad, the man concedes that the "black and white" world he was brought up in is actually filled with more shades of gray than he'd been willing to give it credit for. His tone softens, and you can see that he's considering the issue — and his drinking partner — in a whole new light.

Is sitting down over a beer really enough to overcome our differences?

Surprisingly, it turns out that the ad is pretty spot-on.

A number of studies have shown that short, casual, in-person conversations with someone with an opposing viewpoint is one of the easiest paths to changing someone's mind.

Image via Heineken/YouTube.

This may very well be one of the few times where trying to mimic what you've seen in a beer ad is totally appropriate — and encouraged. It's for the sake of humanity, after all.

You can check out the full ad below.

Meagan Nash thought her son, Asher, belonged in magazines.

Asher Nash. Photo by Crystal Barbee.

"I wanted to submit him because he always seemed to like having his picture taken," Nash said. "Anytime I get my phone out, his eyes get big, and he gets this big grin on his face, almost like he knows what's happening."

Nash sent Asher's pictures to a local talent agent that was casting a campaign for the baby brand Carter's.

She was confused when the agent refused to submit them.

Asher has Down syndrome, and Carter's, the agent explained, wasn't calling in children with special needs.

Photo by Crystal Barbee.

Nash insisted. Yes, the company hadn't specified that they were looking for kids with disabilities, but Asher's pictures were good, and Carter's hadn't said they weren't looking for kids like him.

"My first reaction was he should get the same chance to be accepted or rejected as any other baby," she said.

The agent apologized and agreed to send the photos.

For months, Nash heard nothing. Frustrated, she contacted Changing the Face of Beauty, an organization that works to increase representation of people with disabilities in media and advertising.

Her contact there encouraged her to post Asher's photos online as part of the group's annual campaign.

Asher and his sister, Addison. Photo by Crystal Barbee.

"The talent industry, first of all, rarely represents people with disabilities, and when they do, they don’t always present because they don’t look at them as 'brown hair, blue eyes child'; they look at them as a disabled child," Katie Driscoll, Changing the Face of Beauty's founder and president, said.

Nash's post with Asher's photos was shared over 126,000 times. A story about the mother and son's campaign appeared on The Mighty.

According to Nash, representatives from OshKosh B'Gosh — a company affiliated with Carter's — messaged her less than an hour after the article was posted.

"They wanted to talk and hear my concerns, so I went over everything from the beginning and told them how it all started," Nash said. "At the end of our conversation, we had set a date for us to come in to meet with them."

Photo by Crystal Barbee.

She and Asher met with representatives from OshKosh recently, and they invited Asher to participate in an upcoming holiday advertising shoot, according to a statement provided by the company.

In the meantime, thanks to the publicity generated by the post, he's already done a shoot for Oball toys — his favorites.

Driscoll explained that while featuring kids like Asher in print ads might seem like a small thing, it can have concrete effects beyond simple representation.

"It also shows retailers and employers that, hey, obviously we’re valuing this community in advertising, we’re speaking to them as consumers, why wouldn’t we consider them for a job?" she said.

For Nash, getting the OshKosh shoot is a victory — a step closer to a world in which her son's talents are evaluated like any other kids' — independent of his disability.

For Asher, the photo shoot is another chance to show off his million-dollar smile.

Photo by Crystal Barbee.

And cash his first paycheck.

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They all win Best Bald Dad forever.

It's pretty great to be unique, but sometimes having differences that other people can see makes life hard.

Image via iStock.

For kids who are already dealing with growing pains while also interacting with other kids who might not be so accepting of their differences, life can be a whole lot trickier.

Thankfully, there are a number of amazing parents who are making sure their kids don't have to walk through this judgmental world alone.

Josh Marshall is one of these parents.

His son, Gabe, has a rare malignant brain tumor called an anaplastic astrocytoma that was removed nine months ago, but a large scar remains on his head — a scar that Gabe felt self-conscious about.

Heartbroken that his son was so affected by his distinctive new mark, Josh did the only thing he could think of to help level the playing field — he got a matching head scar tattoo:

"I told him if people wanted to stare, they could stare at both of us," Josh told BuzzFeed.

As if that wasn't cool enough, Josh entered the St. Baldrick’s Foundation’s #BestBaldDad competition, which honors kids who are bald from cancer treatments and the fathers/uncles/grandfathers who shave their heads in solidarity.

Josh and Gabe's awesome photo took first place.

The parents of 3-year-old Honey-Rae also turned to a tattoo artist to make their daughter feel less alone.

Honey-Rae was born with a strawberry-colored birth mark that covers almost half of the right side of her body. The birthmark didn't affect her physically, but her parents feared how it would affect her emotionally as she grew up.

They, like Josh, got matching birthmark tattoos so that Honey-Rae would always know that she fits in perfectly with her family.

"Most people might think it's very extreme, but to us it was the natural thing to do to ensure our daughter never felt different or alone in the world," Tanya, Honey-Rae's mother, told The Mirror.

"Adam and I decided straightaway that we wanted Honey-Rae to feel special, that her birthmark was something to feel proud of and not embarrassed by."

Alistair Campbell got not one, but two tattoos of cochlear implants — because he doesn't play favorites and always wants his kids to know they're not alone.

Two years after Charlotte Campbell got a very visible cochlear implant at age 4, her father, Alistair, decided he wanted to do something to show her the thing that makes her different is actually pretty cool.

You guessed it, he got a tattoo of the implant on his own head:

Photo courtesy of Alistair Campbell.

He didn't stop there, though. In March 2016, when his son, Lewis, also got a cochlear implant, Alistair told Upworthy, "I got the other side done."

Photo courtesy of Alistair Campbell.

Alistair didn't get his tattoos because his kids felt different — he got them because he wanted them to know that he loves them and will stand by them no matter what.

"I got the tattoo(s) to support my kids in their journey," Alistair told Upworthy. And because he's the coolest dad ever.

According to him, his wife wasn't pleased by his decision — not because he was supporting their children, but only because she's not a fan of tattoos.

Every day, kids look to their parents to learn how the world works.

If parents teach them from an early age that the things that make them — that make all of us — different are things worth celebrating and embracing, they'll believe it.

Doing this doesn't require getting a tattoo, but I think we can all agree getting a solidarity tattoo for your kid is the quintessential way to be the hippest parent at school drop-off.

What it looks like to live as an introvert, as told by an introvert.

A lot of people think being an introvert is limited to wanting to be alone.

But really, it's so much more.

This is why Maureen Wilson decided to illustrate some of the best parts of being an introvert. Introverts can be observant, and they can be good listeners. Some introverts enjoy being with people often while other introverts love being alone most of the time.

But it's estimated that about one-third to half of the U.S. population are introverts, so no two introverts are the same. Here are 10 things Wilson wants you to know about an introvert's life.

1. Introverts are more than quiet.

2. An introvert's guide to fashion may include conversation-proof clothing items and accessories.

3. They might also have a few T-shirts to add to the mix.

4. Introverts and extroverts actually share a few commonalities.

5. Their alone time often isn't lonely.

6. Their weekends might look a little bit less full, but that doesn't mean they aren't relaxing.

7. Home tends to be where the heart truly is for an introvert.

8. This Magic 8 Ball game truly captures being an introvert.

9. Sometimes, talking to non-humans can lead to easier conversations, too.

10. But what most introverts want you to know, above anything else, is that being at peace with themselves makes them the happiest of all.

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We have a small favor to ask of you

differences

There's some science to back up Heineken's ad campaign.

You won't find parties, loud music, or scantily-clothed women in Heineken's 2017 ad campaign.

The ad features people who disagree on issues like climate change, feminism, and transgender rights.

What makes the ad so brilliant is the flurry of emotions that cross each person's face immediately after the big reveal.

Is sitting down over a beer really enough to overcome our differences?

You can check out the full ad below.

Meagan Nash thought her son, Asher, belonged in magazines.

The agent apologized and agreed to send the photos.

Nash's post with Asher's photos was shared over 126,000 times. A story about the mother and son's campaign appeared on The Mighty.

Driscoll explained that while featuring kids like Asher in print ads might seem like a small thing, it can have concrete effects beyond simple representation.

They all win Best Bald Dad forever.

It's pretty great to be unique, but sometimes having differences that other people can see makes life hard.

Josh Marshall is one of these parents.

The parents of 3-year-old Honey-Rae also turned to a tattoo artist to make their daughter feel less alone.

Alistair Campbell got not one, but two tattoos of cochlear implants — because he doesn't play favorites and always wants his kids to know they're not alone.

Every day, kids look to their parents to learn how the world works.

What it looks like to live as an introvert, as told by an introvert.

A lot of people think being an introvert is limited to wanting to be alone.

1. Introverts are more than quiet.

2. An introvert's guide to fashion may include conversation-proof clothing items and accessories.

3. They might also have a few T-shirts to add to the mix.

4. Introverts and extroverts actually share a few commonalities.

5. Their alone time often isn't lonely.

6. Their weekends might look a little bit less full, but that doesn't mean they aren't relaxing.

7. Home tends to be where the heart truly is for an introvert.

8. This Magic 8 Ball game truly captures being an introvert.

9. Sometimes, talking to non-humans can lead to easier conversations, too.

10. But what most introverts want you to know, above anything else, is that being at peace with themselves makes them the happiest of all.