Ice Bucket Challenge fills up with cash, criticism
Tom Keane, The Boston Globe: “Since the Ice Bucket Challenge fad began, the ALS Association says it’s seen $41.8 million in contributions — a big jump from a paltry $2.1 million in the same period last year. ... Charities have always been comfortable using guilt as a motivator. (This) crosses a line. Those issuing challenges are not only telling others what cause to support but also saying that if they don’t, they must suffer a penalty. Threats to compel giving? It seems the opposite of what it really means to be charitable.”
John Bare,
CNN: “The Ice Bucket Challenge (is) a marker of something larger and something special occurring across the culture. It’s not the funny videos that matter. It’s the power of the peerto-peer economy. ... It’s what comes at the end of the videos, when the soaked participant looks into the camera and challenges family or friends to do the same. ... Most charitable giving is private and personal. This peerbased alternative creates a lasting good feeling that can only be realized through a kind of social alchemy, not a private act.”
Will Oremus,
Chicago
Tribune: “It’s hard to shake the feeling that, for most of the people posting ice bucket videos of themselves on Facebook, Vine and Instagram, the charity part remains a postscript. ... As for ‘raising awareness,’ few of the videos I’ve seen contain any substantive information about the disease, why the money is needed or how it will be used. More than anything else, the ice bucket