Unless you’ve been living under a rock this summer, chances are you’ve run into or even participated in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge—the heroic act of drenching oneself with buckets of ice water in hopes of raising awareness and funds for Lou Gehrig’s disease, better known as ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis). ALS attacks the nerve cells and spinal cord, leading to paralysis and eventually death.
As with any popular trend, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, which has now become a viral sensation across several media platforms, has also stirred up quite the controversy. The Ice Bucket Challenge has been called a publicity stunt and associated with “slacktivism,” a pejorative term accusing participants of relieving themselves of any charitable action, such as donating money, merely by dumping water on themselves.
While some of the concerns with the challenge are valid, there is enough evidence to suggest that the challenge, in fact, has succeeded in what it set out to do—raise awareness and funds for ALS research. The ALS Association has reportedly received an astonishing sum of $62.5 million, gathered 1.2 million Facebook videos, and attracted the attention of people everywhere in an amazingly short amount of time. Without the ice bucket challenge, most people would never even have heard of the crippling disease, let alone the effect it has had on an estimated 30,000 Americans.
Comparatively, $62.5 million is much less money than funds raised by many other well-known disease campaigns. For those who still question the actual amount of money going towards the cause and believe that ice companies are profiting more than the ALS Association, however, this is the most successful campaign this particular disease’s association has ever seen. Why is this the case? Perhaps it has to do with the fact that the disease only affects two out of every 100,000 people, meaning there is little incentive for pharmaceutical companies to find a cure. Hence, every penny counts, even if it’s “just” $60 million. Besides, ALS Association is not the only organization that benefited from the newfound publicity. According to Times, Project ALS, a smaller nonprofit organization also dedicated to ALS research, raised a huge sum of money shortly after actor Ben Stiller partook in the challenge
Let’s face it: with all the endless stories we hear of different illnesses making their way through various parts of the world each day, it becomes more and more difficult to keep track of the effects of these diseases as well as the organizations we should be donating to in order to help put them to an end. The ice bucket challenge really is made for our generation of people embracing the “digital age.” Think about it: how many times a day do you find yourself scrolling through your Facebook and Instagram newsfeed? Is there really is not a more efficient way to spread the word about humanitarian fundraising campaigns than social media? You enter Facebook clueless to ALS and thousands of videos of friends and celebrities participating in the challenge later, you come out an expert on the disease and sympathizer for ALS patients. With hope, these videos will move on to make others will curious as to what all the fuss is about. They might even inspire you to take the challenge yourself.