Does Celebrity Helped The ALS #icebucketchallenge ? Pros & Cons

This week the social feeds of everybody I know have been full of videos of people accepting and enacting the ALS challenge to dunk themselves in a bucket of ice water and/or donate USD100 to the cause. Celebrities and businessmen including Bill Gates, Chris Pratt, Mark Zuckerberg, Oprah Winfrey, Lady Gaga, have all done it.

At the time I was writing this. pretty much every celebrity took part of the ‪#‎ALSIceBucketChalleng and it’s still going. Check the complete list HERE

Why is it working ? It’s easy, simple, it’s personal, it’s for a GOOD CAUSE, it’s social, it makes the giver feels great.

Rules of the Ice Bucket Challenge as I have looked up :

• Nominees either accept the dare and donate $10 or they reject the dare and donate $100

• After completing the challenge, you nominate 3 other people who have 24 hours to dump or donate.

Keys For a Viral Success - Capitalize on a viral phenomenon : one part is charity, sprinkle in some celebrity and bid on the potential of every social media from Instagram to Facebook.

Celebrities are what we can call as “Slactivists”, which is basically ‘Look at me I’m charitable’ and feel good about donating. Participating in an act of charity that is supposedly spontaneous, fun and casual is a way to shape they’re image. It’s a part of the celebrity brand building. Be good, look good, do good.

The unintended side effect of the Ice Bucket Challenge is that it’s giving celebrities the opportunity to be cute, entertaining, and perhaps even likeable. _ Lainey Gossip

It’s a win-win for ALS and for those celebs who wants to shape their image and grow their followers fan base on social medias. Some of them will be part of it because they truly believe on the cause, while others will see business opportunities (talking to you Bill Gates), promotion opportunities (talking about you Tom Cruise) or just think it’s a cool thing to do (talking about you Selena Gomez!). But, I am asking, can we blame them?

The  Pros : The company said on Monday that 2.4 million videos “related to the ice bucket challenge have been shared” on the social network, and more than 28 million people have posted, commented or liked a post relating to the challenge. ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Raises $8.6 Million in a Single Day. UPDATE : Ice Bucket Donations Reached $53.3 Million on Friday 22th August, after two weeks.

The Cons : Ok it’s for a good cause but it raise light on a major controversy which is : WATER. Internet started to feel uncomfortable and reacted about this bunch of celebs throwing tons of water on them. Because we must say, water is too precious to waste on charity’s campaign in California.

Here’s some interesting reactions on twitter and from public personalities such as Ricky Gervais who criticized this challenge :

“Dear celebrities, OK, now that’s enough. Please stop pouring lovely fresh water over your heads” – Africa

— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) August 19, 2014

” It’s more to raise funds and awareness of people and pharmaceutical companies on the ALS syndrome. But I wonder how many people actually know what the challenge is about and actually donate to the association…” 

“And that’s totally fine. And I am happy they raised millions of $. But I don’t find logical to use a water which is a big issue in lots of countries for another cause…” _ Carmen 

“U can still use other creative ways to make aware people about a disease, political situation, etc. It’s limit to use a rare commodity (water is in some countries) in favor of an orphan disease. That’s it, that’s my opinion”_Estelle Marie

I do agree with the fact that they’re only a bunch of celebrities throwing water on them and once again making themselves a spectacles. But in the other hand, isn’t it how celebrities are supposed to be used? Isn’t it the main utility as being a celebrity  and an influencer? They raise awareness on good cause like the ALS , they’re influencing people to do or think in some way, except that for once it’s not about trying to sell us shit !

 This challenge worked because it was simple, easy to do, and that people loved to show that they’re doing something good…but hey at the end of the day they raised money for a the right cause. Right?

The right way of doing it – I finally found ONE celebs who’s done this challenge the right way : Kristen Stewart did it with dirty bathwater and highlighted the water conservation problem.

Finally, the Environmental Protection Agency channeled that concern in a positive way :

EPA fully supports the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. The agency would also encourage participants to be creative in utilizing water, such as holding the challenge in a garden that needs watering, or finding ways to capture water for reuse. (The Wire.com )