F*ck the poor?

'Don't you have a heart?' passers-by tell the man

A man has walked the streets in a 'f*ck the poor' sandwich board as part of a social experiment looking at how far the public really care about the less fortunate.

Explaining what happens in the video would only serve to ruin its effect, so scroll down and click play now.

Watched it? Good. The video comes from The Pilion Trust charity and aims to highlight how people will often lament poverty or condemn those who perpetuate it but never do anything about it. How people will tweet 140-character witticisms about the government's policies, but never reach into their pockets and actually donate money.

Not only are the pedestrians in the video fooled by the initial 'f*ck the poor' message, but you can almost feel viewers of the video itself ready to rain impotent rage on it before the twist ending reveals what is really going on.

'We know you care,' the advert concludes, 'But do you care enough to give?'

Admittedly the public can't be expected to donate to a man shaking a tin on the street with no credentials, nor be as enthralled by the everyday 'help the poor' message as it is outraged by the venomous 'f*ck the poor' one, but the message remains powerful.

The Pilion Trust is a London-based Registered Charity that 'works with all vulnerable discriminated against and socially excluded peoples'. You can learn more about it here and donate to it here.