If you have been on social media or the internet in the past few weeks, there is no way you could have missed it. It is called the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, a PR campaign that has gone viral and united global celebrities and people of different backgrounds towards a great cause — raising awareness and funds for care and research into ALS or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
ALS is a neurodegenerative disease that makes sufferers lose muscle control and eventually the ability to eat, speak and breathe. The life expectancy for victims of the disease is currently between two and five years and riluzole, the only FDA approved medication available, can only modestly slow the progress of the disease (source: www.alsa.org). With that at the back of our minds, we should find it quite heartwarming to see that this campaign has gone viral.
The challenge was to dare anyone pour a bucket of ice water over their heads within 24 hours or else donate some money to the ALS Trust Fund. When they complete the challenge, they can post the video online and nominate three other people who will pay it forward and donate more money if they so wish.
It seemed at first like an embarrassing prank that will soon run out of steam. But to our surprise, many celebrities chose to take up the challenge, make a donation and nominate others to keep the momentum going. This has resulted in unprecedented awareness being created for Lou Gehrig’s disease. Global celebrities ranging from politicians, businessmen, tech executives and sports icons to media executives and movie stars have taken the challenge.
The list includes Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, American singer-songwriter, Justin Timberlake, comedian and host of the Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon, businesswoman and former fashion model, Martha Stewart, New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie, businessman and philanthropist, Bill Gates, Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg, Apple CEO, Tim Cooke, Real Madrid striker, Cristiano Ronaldo, Virgin Chairman, Richard Branson and many others. The Ice Bucket Challenge has seen stars and public figures, as I delicately put it, risk “embarrassing” themselves by getting soaked in front of us for a pretty good cause.
Who will ever forget watching the usually composed Oprah Winfrey screaming as the ice was poured over her head when she took the challenge? I remember watching Mark Zuckerberg take things quite stoically as he publicly took the challenge. I also love Bill Gates who took an innovative, technological approach to the challenge by designing and using a special pulley. Can we also forget the fun of watching LeBron James grit his teeth and scream when he felt the impact of the ice cold water on his back while siting in a boat? And of course, there is tech titan and founder of Tesla Motors, Elon Musk’s specially engineered design that allowed his five young sons to pour water on him simultaneously.
And the donations have been coming in droves. According to the ALS Association, thanks to the challenge, donations in excess of $13.3 million have been received between July 29 and August 17, 2014, compared to $1.7 million received during the same period in 2013. “These donations have come from existing donors and 259,505 new donors”, the association stated on its website. More than a million challenge videos have also been posted on Facebook and the campaign continues to gain momentum.
So why has the Ice Bucket Challenge been so successful? Here is my take on the subject.
1. It is a great concept
The Ice Bucket Challenge is a great concept because it has elements of the unusual, the exciting and the sustainable. The Ice Bucket Challenge is not only interesting, it is exciting and hilarious. It appeals to people from all walks of life and those who may be interested in wanting to know who next will take up the challenge. It also drives our curiosity as to whether some individuals will actually take up the challenge, simply donate or reject it altogether. Who, for instance, will Bill Gates nominate? Will President Obama dare attempt the indignity of getting soaked in front of the whole world? Will Prime Minister David Cameron or President Vladimir Putin ever take the Ice Bucket Challenge?
Although I am not a fan of chain letters, it is notable that the nomination element in the challenge has helped its sustainability. The phenomenon also gives everyone the freedom to be creative. For instance, comedians and late night show hosts, Jimmy Fallon and Conan O’Brien took the challenge on their shows using their own creative approaches while nominating others. This freedom to create plus the broadcast of the shows to millions in America and across the world has helped sustain public interest and excitement in the campaign.
2. It anchors on the power of celebrities and real people
The involvement of celebrities has brought a great deal of vibrancy to the campaign. We all know celebrities and want to know what they are doing. They are role models and aspirational figures. We all want to learn how they became successful. We want to know their secret pains and the meaning of every public pronouncement they make. They are easily recognizable, they draw attention and many of us are connected to them on social media. By getting so many of them involved through public nomination, the attention and focus of the world was guaranteed. This is aside of the fact that celebrities also have the punch to make significant contributions in terms of raising awareness and funds for major causes.
The significant role played by real people who suffer from the disease and the participation of their friends is also worthy of note. They created credibility for the cause and generated popular interest. As their videos went viral, more people across the globe became aware of ALS, showed empathy and took the decision to become involved in helping to tackle the disease.
3. It utilizes the magnificent reach of social media
Add the magnetic power of celebrities to the overwhelming reach of social media and you can easily understand why the campaign has been so successful. Utilizing popular media like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and the hashtags #icebucketchallenge, #alsicebucketchallenge and #strikeoutals — videos, messages and posts on the topic have reached millions of social media users worldwide in the shortest span of time.
The challenge is also visual and lends itself easily to photos, video and storytelling. Because of this, the topic is currently trending on Twitter and the story continues to advance because as many more celebrities and ordinary folks get involved, more interesting stories are being generated and disseminated to hold the attention of the world.
4. It anchors on our innate desire to do good and advance society
Humanity has been endowed with the innate motivation to seek and do good in addition to the desire to demonstrate it publicly. This desire is one that the campaign has been able to firmly anchor onto. There are so many bad things in the world. But the truth is that most of us still want to do good and the Ice Bucket Challenge presents a good opportunity to do so.
As clearly communicated by the ALS Association, the proceeds from the challenge will be “invested prudently in helping people with ALS and their families and caregivers in the battle against the disease, while resolutely pursuing all avenues to extend, improve and ultimately save lives”. The ALS Association will also fund new groundbreaking research in laboratories across the globe.
The question then is: which celebrity would not want to be seen supporting the 98 active projects and recently announced $3.5 million in funding for 21 new projects led by the world’s top scientists to seek a cure and treatment for this terrible disease by taking up the challenge and making a donation?
After all, what wouldn’t we all do for a good and worthwhile cause?
5. It is driven by the distinctive power of PR
Then there is the power and credibility provided by good PR and its ability to connect with people in a very meaningful way. Whether by coincidence or design, the campaign was driven at the initial stages by the power of sincerity, human empathy and social interaction. According to the online free encyclopedia, Wikipedia, “the challenge was popularized in the United States when, on July 15, 2014, golfer Chris Kennedy did the ice-bucket challenge and challenged his cousin Jeanette Senerchia of Pelham, N.Y., whose husband, Anthony, has had ALS for 11 years. A day later, she did the challenge while her six-year-old daughter filmed her in front of their house. Ms. Senerchia’s network on Facebook connected with Pat Quinn, a 31-year-old in Yonkers, N.Y., who was diagnosed with ALS in March 2013. Mr. Quinn called upon his friends and family. Soon, his whole network was posting challenges, including family in Florida, friends in Ireland and Greece, and a bar full of locals, which was broadcast on local television. Mr. Quinn’s Facebook network overlapped with Massachusetts resident and former Boston College baseball player Pete Frates, who has ALS, and began posting about it on Twitter.”
So far, the credit has been given to those important players mentioned above. Although it has not been acknowledged elsewhere, I make bold to say that some credit should at least go to the PR and Communication folks at the ALS Association and/or their PR or communication agencies for recognizing this trend and giving it some desired positioning and momentum. That is, if they are not the architects or driving force behind this campaign in the first place. (You may visit the ALS Association website, www.alsa.org to verify this assertion).
6. Conclusion
There is no doubt that the outcome of this campaign has been most extraordinary and impressive. The campaign has generated massive interest in ALS, given rise to many stories and photo-ops in traditional media, created buzz in social media and inspired many blog articles including this write-up.
This superb outcome then brings some questions to mind: Is it possible for non profits or PR teams to get so many powerful people — from President Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Cristiano Ronaldo and LeBron James to Mark Zuckeberg, Jimmy Fallon, Oprah Winfrey and Bon Jovi — to not only endorse, but donate to causes so easily and in such quick succession? How do we get top-rated programs like the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, NBC’s Today Show with Matt Lauer and Late Night with Conan O’Brien to feature or prominently promote our causes without us having to show up on their sets?
My humble submission is that the Ice Bucket Challenge has revealed to us some unique possibilities and shown us how.
Kola Ogunshote is a seasoned PR professional, journalist, entrepreneur, social marketer and change agent. He is committed to the propagation of positive human values.