London - Have you done the ice bucket challenge yet? Darlings, you simply must. Everyone who is anyone is doing it, plus Katie Price and Mel B.
The object of the exercise is to raise awareness and research funds for Motor Neurone Disease by being filmed having a bucket of iced water dumped on your head, nominating three others to do the same and uploading the footage on to social media, using the hashtag #icebucketchallenge or #MND.
Wouldn’t it be more productive if everyone just donated cash instead of faffing about with buckets? Of course it would.
However, this is a damp but golden opportunity to show off and be altruistic at the same time; a delightful prospect that few celebrities can find it in their hearts to resist.
The rocker Alice Cooper did it on-stage, in a paddling pool. The pop singer Nicole Scherzinger did it on the beach. Gwyneth Paltrow did it in a bikini, of course she did. Posh Spice did it squealing like a cat caught in a flap, while X Factor judge Cheryl Cole did it in a pair of denim shorts, with her new husband brandishing the bucket. Cheryl knew he’d come in handy at some point, and so it has proved.
Anna Wintour, the perfectly coiffed Vogue editor, did it after being nominated by her daughter, selecting her tennis hero Roger Federer to take the challenge next.
K ylie did it on a yacht. So did Simon Cowell, whose girlfriend Lauren Silverman tipped the icy contents of the tiniest, dinkiest cocktail ice bucket you’ve ever seen over his head.
At least the model Katie Price’s current husband filled up a dustbin to give her a proper soaking, perhaps celebrating the fact that she has forgiven him for his infidelity and their marriage is back on track. Sploosh!
Ron Wood was the first Rolling Stone to do it, and nominated Rod Stewart to take the challenge next.
Tom Cruise has done it, David Beckham generously gave his female fans a treat by doing it topless, while the golfer Greg Norman, the rapper Nicki Minaj, the singer Taylor Swift and, of course, the model Cara Delevingne - without whom no list of au courant celebrities is ever complete - have all done it, too.
Along with hundreds of thousands of kind-hearted members of the public, equally determined to do their bit.
The ice bucket challenge started in America as a way of raising money and awareness of the neurodegenerative disease ALS, which is known here (and in South Africa) as motor neurone disease (MND).
The campaign has gone viral, raising more than £37-million for the ALS Association in America, compared to just over £1.3-million in the same period last year. In the UK, the funds raised are ‘still in the thousands rather than the millions’, while the Motor Neurone Disease Association have had to cheerfully put up with Macmillan Cancer Support swooping in and appropriating the #icebucketchallenge to raise funds for their own charity, which is not really very charitable of them.
Volunteers are asked to donate £3 (about R50) if they take the challenge and £10 if they do not. A spokeswoman for Macmillan said they were trying to be ‘more responsive to social trends’ after failing to exploit the #NoMakeupSelfie, which raised £8-million for Cancer Research UK within six days earlier this year when women put a picture of their make-up-free face online and made a donation.
Meanwhile, MNDA chief executive Sally Light, welcomed the opportunity to ‘raise awareness of what is a devastating terminal disease’ and encouraged people to keep taking the challenge. Although iced water dares have existed in various forms before, the #icebucketchallenge came to mainstream prominence in the US last month, when television host Matt Lauer did the challenge live on TV.
On the same day, golf professional Chris Kennedy nominated his cousin, whose husband has ALS, to do the challenge. That was the first link with the disease, in an organic campaign that has captured the public imagination. Even politicians are getting in on the act, a sure sign that the crusade must be nearing its natural end.
Former US President George Bush completed the challenge and nominated Bill Clinton to do it after him. Barack Obama has refused to do it, giving a donation instead.
In the UK, Alistair Darling and Alex Salmond have done it, the latter shamelessly milking it for political capital. He nominated his deputy Nicola Sturgeon (‘because we are a team’) and Prime Minister David Cameron because; ‘I saw him in a wetsuit the other day so he’s got the equipment.’
Cameron was also nominated by Russell Brand and Katie Price, but has declined and given a donation instead. That is actually by far the more charitable option, but it doesn’t get you as many ‘likes’ on Facebook.
Of course, the challenge itself is a meaningless one and has no direct correlation with motor neurone disease. In fact, it is nothing more than a gimmick, but as gimmicks go, it is a pretty good one even if it smacks more of self-gratification than being selfless. Whatever happened to just quietly donating to the charity of your choice?
Today, celebrities cannot simply do good, they have to be seen to be doing good in the splashiest ways possible. Some campaigners worry that worthy causes will get overlooked as compassion and charitable instincts are manipulated by the charity with the most attractive online campaigns - or even by those who hijack them. Still, even if it is a little narcissistic and silly, does it matter? No. Not a bit.
It is estimated more than 5 000 people in the UK have this terrible disease, for which there is no cure.
So every penny helps to fund research and raise awareness.
From Lady Gaga to breakfast TV’s Susannah Reid to my niece Lucy to Vin Diesel and millions of others, bless you all for making a very wet effort. -
Daily Mail