Paul McCartney has given permission for his Beatles song, "When I'm Sixty-Four," to be used in a 30 second television commercial for Save the Chimps, a Florida sanctuary for chimpanzees rescued from labs and show business.
“Most people don’t realize chimpanzees can live into their 60s, thus their lifelong care at sanctuaries is a costly commitment,” McCartney said. “I was happy to donate ‘When I’m Sixty-Four’ to Save the Chimps’ new campaign, as nearly half of the 200+ rescued chimps they look after are seniors.”
The current commercial, which began running Tuesday, February 28, was the idea of Dan Mathews of Save the Chimps. He's a former SVP at PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) who created the “Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur” ad series. He's worked with McCartney on other campaigns.
McCartney's interest in apes goes way back. When he was on tour in 2002, McCartney spent four hours playing music for apes at the Language Research Facility in Atlanta after being told about it by artist Peter Gabriel.