Critics slam ice challenge as self-promotion
It has been the internet craze of the northern summer, raising more than US$100 million (NZ$119.4m) for charity in a month and attracting such luminaries as George W Bush, Oprah Winfrey, Justin Bieber and even Kermit the Frog.
As the weather grows colder and days become shorter, a growing number of people have criticised the ice bucket challenge, which is aimed at raising money for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or motor neurone disease. In New Zealand, the same challenge was used to raise money for cancer research.
The phenomenon, in which people are filmed being doused in iced water before nominating others to do the same, has been condemned for being little more than a gimmick that encourages selfpromotion.
Celebrities including David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo wasted no time in taking off their shirts for the challenge. Others have been criticised for being so eager to name-check their friends that they fail to mention the cause they are supporting in their monologues to camera.
Some critics have questioned the merits of one cause benefiting from a surge of donations. The challenge has raised more than US$100 million for the ALS Association in the US and £4.5m (NZ$8.9m) for the British charity, the Motor Neurone Disease Association.
Some note that there are other neurodegenerative illnesses which are more common and have a greater need for public donations. Others claim that other charities are likely to suffer as a consequence.
‘‘Because people on average are limited in how much they’re willing to donate to good causes, if someone donates
David Beckham, left and Oprah Winfrey were among many celebrities who joined the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and posted footage online. Winfrey went on to nominate Dame Helen Mirren to do the challenge. $100 to the ALS Association, he or she will likely donate less to other charities,’’ William MacAskill, a research associate at Oxford University, wrote in Quartz.
The reservations have given rise to the #noIceBucketChallenge hashtag trending on Twitter along with a series of memes questioning its benefits.
One shows a picture of Americans throwing water over their heads, accompanied by a picture of a small boy in Africa drinking water from a dirty puddle. The actor Matt Damon poured toilet water over himself. He said: ‘‘The water in our toilets in the West is cleaner than the water that most people in the developing world have access to.’’
Observers are asking how the ALS Association plans to spend the money, after it spent only 28 per cent on research into the disease last year.