Movember draws attention to men's health, boosts profits for sponsors
Companies may be capitalizing on Movember fundraisers
Movember originated in Australia in 2003 when 30 men challenged each other to bring back the moustache as a fashion trend. In 2004, Movember began raising funds to fight prostate cancer.
Today, the Movember organization is active in more than 20 countries and has raised well over half a billion dollars to fund men’s physical and mental health.
The annual fundraiser is promoted differently in various countries, as seen in this ad that ran in the United States.
And here’s one of the ways Movember is promoted in Canada.
Over the years, Movember commercials have tended to use a lot of humour. But a 2011 ad for the U.S. Prostate Cancer Foundation is thought to have gone a little too far.
In it, we see a burly, middle-age, middle European man surprising male passersby by snapping on rubber gloves and offering to check their prostates.
The trouble was, the ad made prostate exams look so scary and unpleasant, it actually increased men’s anxiety about being tested — which may explain why this year, the Prostate Cancer Foundation is running this safe and reassuringly boring ad.
Along with charitable organizations, marketers have also climbed aboard the Movember bandwagon to raise awareness of men’s health as well as their own products. Here’s a 2013 commercial from Denmark starring Adrien Brody.
Now, those of us familiar with the breast cancer sponsorship model from this month might assume that Gillette would have made a Movember contribution for every Fusion ProGlide it sold in November. However, that wasn’t the case.
The company reportedly made a flat donation, with no further proceeds tied to product purchases, which was also true of this Movember sponsor from last year.
The best advice for getting involved with Movember is to sponsor someone who’s growing a moustache, or send your donation directly to the Movember organization. Then you know for sure where your money’s going, as opposed to buying products from Movember sponsors whose donation practices may be a little bit fuzzy.