FACE TO FACE: Is the ALS ice bucket challenge a worthy cause or worthy of ridicule?
So it falls to me to throw cold water (sorry) on the ALS ice bucket challenge, the philanthropic blockbuster of the last few months. The frigid online stunt went organically viral, raising $100 million this summer, so there's no denying that it's real and it works.
Still, one can't help feeling that the whole giving money thing is parenthetic to the latest wrinkle of each splashy spectacle.
Rock stars, hockey players and assorted celebrities challenging and one upping each other. Matt Damon dousing himself with iced toilet water. The Pope with iced holy water.
Quick and catchy, the ice bucket challenge is flash of exposure, just self-flagellating enough to mask one's narcissism - perfect for celebrity charity buffs.
Politicians like Rob Ford, ever the ALS champion, challenges talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, who fills his fishing waders with ice while making jokes about shrunken testicles.
Sounds like fun.
It is fun but it's a bit junior high clique-ish. Has anyone challenged you to dump ice water on your head? I though not - loser.
I can't impugn the motives of famous people who dump ice water on their head and I confess to watching lots of douses and to being a bit miffed that Stephen Harper hasn't invited me to help him douse himself.
But does funding medical research or supporting the needy have to rely on snappy, narcissistic stunts? Must we encourage charities to cannibalize one another in a cutesy competition for individual philanthropy?
British blogger Willard Foxton termed the ice bucket challenge a "wet t-shirt contest for armchair clicktivists."
So now we've got the Easter Seal challenge, which invites people to rappel down the sides of buildings for charity.
And I'm sure all charities are scrambling to buff up their now boring appeals that feature ribbons or flowers.
So how about this for a zippy campaign?
Andy, I challenge you, Oprah Winfrey and Vladimir Putin to post videos of yourselves guzzling a can of beer in support of liver disease research.
I've got this catchy online video that shows David Suzuki guzzling a beer in front of the oil patch, in order to raise money for, what was it again oh yes, liver disease.
Face to Face columnist Jim Nelson is a retired Tri-City teacher and principal who lives in Port Moody. He has contributed a number of columns on education-related issues to The Tri-City News.
