"Where is your ice bucket challenge video?" demands my cousin who nominated me for the challenge last week. "Looking at the videos and photos I have seen so far, I can't think of doing it unless I have a perfect figure like a Kingfisher calender-girl" I reply giggling, trying to elude her question. Upset with my answer, she is about to start lecturing me, when I explain the reasons for not participating in the challenge. I doubt she is convinced as she sighs nodding her head, saying "you are so boring and un-cool Simi!!!"
For anyone, who is connected to digital world, escaping the latest meme, the Ice Bucket Challenge has become impossible. By now, you must have seen many of your friends dunking into freezing water, screaming through torrent of ice. Perhaps, you might have been even nominated by a few.
For anyone, who is connected to digital world, escaping the latest meme, the Ice Bucket Challenge has become impossible. By now, you must have seen many of your friends dunking into freezing water, screaming through torrent of ice. Perhaps, you might have been even nominated by a few.
The ice bucket challenge for me is great example of creative marketing with a
social cause. It is a significant moment of our modern times that has proven
that humanity can use social media for the common good.
For most people, making the videos, it has all been a bit of fun, a must for their "coolness quotient". Many people seem to be doing it for catching attention without knowing the disease or the cause! By saying this, I am certainly not trying to show any disrespect for the people who have taken the challenge with serious understanding of the issue and have made an honest attempt to contribute to this cause. But when I see the videos of the ice bucket challenge, I cringe! No one seems to bother to understand ALS! It’s more fun talking about Taylor Swift’s wet shirt than what ALS is about and how it shatters life of those suffering from it! I fail to understand why throw a bucket of ice water on your head and tweet about it when you can directly donate to the cause?!
Here is what I feel: if you really want to help out, don't just throw ice water on yourself. Spend some time understanding and then talking about the disease and the difficulties it entails for the patient and his family. Share your opinion about why you think it is important to discuss the disease. Make the challenge more meaningful, and more actionable. Tell people where they can donate or volunteer. And don’t just do this for ALS, do this for other causes you may feel strongly about. Do this for causes that need our utmost help.
ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) – is a life threatening condition that attacks one’s nerve cells that eventually leads to paralysis. I have lost a very dear friend to this deadly disease three years back and understand the suffering a patient and the family members undergo.
For most people, making the videos, it has all been a bit of fun, a must for their "coolness quotient". Many people seem to be doing it for catching attention without knowing the disease or the cause! By saying this, I am certainly not trying to show any disrespect for the people who have taken the challenge with serious understanding of the issue and have made an honest attempt to contribute to this cause. But when I see the videos of the ice bucket challenge, I cringe! No one seems to bother to understand ALS! It’s more fun talking about Taylor Swift’s wet shirt than what ALS is about and how it shatters life of those suffering from it! I fail to understand why throw a bucket of ice water on your head and tweet about it when you can directly donate to the cause?!
Here is what I feel: if you really want to help out, don't just throw ice water on yourself. Spend some time understanding and then talking about the disease and the difficulties it entails for the patient and his family. Share your opinion about why you think it is important to discuss the disease. Make the challenge more meaningful, and more actionable. Tell people where they can donate or volunteer. And don’t just do this for ALS, do this for other causes you may feel strongly about. Do this for causes that need our utmost help.
ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) – is a life threatening condition that attacks one’s nerve cells that eventually leads to paralysis. I have lost a very dear friend to this deadly disease three years back and understand the suffering a patient and the family members undergo.
Nothing can match the feeling of reaching out to someone in need but sometimes it is imperative to check if our decisions about donating are driven by values or potential impact or by celebrities and the entertainment value of the fundraising campaigns really endorse. The focus of the ice bucket challenge should have been ALS. Unfortunately, the whole concept is reduced to a publicity seeking farce.
So, to all my friends and family members who have nominated me for the ice bucket challenge, sorry guys, I am not participating. If that makes me "boring or un-cool", I have absolutely no issues with that.
So, to all my friends and family members who have nominated me for the ice bucket challenge, sorry guys, I am not participating. If that makes me "boring or un-cool", I have absolutely no issues with that.
