Infographic: The Growth of the #Movember Movement

It’s November, the month in which men grow moustaches to raise awareness of men’s health issues, such as prostate cancer and other male cancers.

Movember also known as “No Shave November”, started in a Melbourne bar as a friendly challenge among mates to grow the best moustache. In 2003, the first Movember took place with 30 Mo Bros and Mo Sistas in Australia with no funds raised.

The Movember challenge is simple: start clean shaven on November 1st, and then grow a “mo” – Australian slang for moustache –  for the next 30 days, while seeking out sponsorship. On the last day of November, it’s shaving day. The proceeds go to the Prostate Cancer Foundation as well as to other charities.

Since that moment, the brothers Adam and Travis Garone have grown the Movember movement one country at a time. Movember started in Australia, and gradually expanded  to New Zealand, Canada, Spain, UK and the USA, before going truly global. With the help of social media efforts and the fun twist put on a serious cause, people have embraced the moustache in all its glory. Within a decade, Movember has grown into a global phenomenon, attracting over 4 million participants in five continents and raising $559 million for prostate cancer awareness. Many celebrities have embraced the movement and various brands such as Heinz, Quaker Oats, Vera Moda, Adidas and Gillette have jumped on the Movember bandwagon.

Valet Magazine created this cool visualization of #Movember‘s impressive growth over the last decade, that we like to share with you. To see the infographic in full, visit Valet Magazine.

My opinion?
In spite of the lighthearted nature, or, perhaps, because of it,  phenomena like Movember, #FeelingNuts, The Ice Bucket Challenge do manage to raise money, awareness and get people talking about truly heartbreaking diseases. For these campaigns, underneath the light-hearted and fun challenge, there is a much deeper story. Today, together as humanity, we can collectively take action like never before. 

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About the Author
Paul van Veenendaal (36) is an all-round marketing professional from the Netherlands with 15+ years of online experience. Paul is co-founder of ViralBlog and has worked at Starcom (Publicis), Ogilvy (WPP) and SocialMedia8 (WPP) for amongst others Samsung, Red Bull, Honda, Heineken, IBM and Nike. You can connect with Paul via LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, Weibo, Facebook, Pinterest or send him an email at [email protected].