Movember Foundation
Formation2003 (2003)
Founders
  • Adam Garone
  • Travis Garone
  • Luke Slattery
  • Justin Coghlan
Type501(c)(3) Charity
PurposeHelping men live happier, healthier, longer lives
HeadquartersMelbourne, Australia
Location
Chairman
Nicholas Reece
CEO
Michelle Terry
Websitewww.movember.com
A group of men displaying moustaches for Movember.

Movember is an annual event involving the growing of moustaches during the month of November to raise awareness of men's health issues, such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and men's suicide.[1] It is a portmanteau of the Australian-English diminutive word for moustache, "mo",[2] and "November".[3] The Movember Foundation runs the Movember charity event, housed at Movember.com.[4] The goal of Movember is to "change the face of men's health."[5]

By encouraging men (whom the charity refers to as "Mo Bros") to get involved, Movember aims to increase early cancer detection, diagnosis and effective treatments, and ultimately reduce the number of preventable deaths. Besides annual check-ups, the Movember Foundation encourages men to be aware of family history of cancer and to adopt a healthier lifestyle.[6] Using the moustache as the driving symbol of the movement, Movember focuses on the three key areas of prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and mental health and suicide prevention.[7] Since inception, the Movember Foundation has raised $837 million and funded over 1,200 projects in more than 20 countries.[8]

Since 2004, the Movember Foundation charity has run Movember events to raise awareness and funds for men's health issues, such as prostate cancer and depression, in Australia and New Zealand. In 2007, events were launched in Ireland, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Spain, the United Kingdom, Israel, South Africa, Taiwan and the United States.[9][10][11][12] As of 2011, Canadians were the largest contributors to the Movember charities of any nation.[13] In 2010, Movember merged with the testicular cancer event Tacheback.[14]

In 2012, the Global Journal listed Movember as one of the world's top 100 NGOs (non-government organization).[15]

History

Origins

Seven Nightly News aired a story in 1999 including a group of young men in Adelaide, South Australia who coined the term "Movember" and the idea of growing moustaches for charity throughout the month of November.[16] In the news report, members of the Adelaide-based "Movember Committee" explained how they came up with the idea for Movember one night in the pub. The group started with 80 men from Adelaide and soon became a nationwide phenomenon. They also aimed to raise money for the RSPCA through selling T-shirts in what they termed "Growing whiskers for whiskers".[16]

In 2004, an unrelated group in Melbourne organised an event where 30 men would grow a moustache for 30 days in order to raise awareness for prostate cancer and depression in men.[17][18] Adam Garone, Travis Garone, Luke Slattery, and Justin (JC) Coughlin inspired 26 other friends with a desire to "bring back" the trend of growing moustaches, the movement was born. The next year, nearly 500 people raised over $40,000 for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia. At the time, it was the largest donation the PCFA had ever received. This group would later become the Movember Foundation charity. Three years after starting the Movember movement, the organization was granted official charity status in Australia.

The Movember Foundation has since raised $174-million worldwide,[19] after spreading to South Africa and Europe, reaching North America in 2006.[11][12] In 2009, Movember obtained official charity status in the United States.[20] In 2010, participants in the United States alone raised over $7.5 million.[21] In 2012, 1.1 million people signed up to participate, raising upwards of $95 million.[22]

The Moscars

Public hospital in Brazil with an inflatable moustache in November 2013

The charity launched The Moscars in 2010, an online global user-submitted video contest that helps Movember participants showcase their involvement in the movement.[23] Submissions cannot be longer than 4 minutes each, and prizes can be won in several categories.

In 2012, head judge Stan Lee awarded the Moscar to South Africa's comedy duo Derick Watts & The Sunday Blues for their video, "The Movember Song", a parody of Carly Rae Jepsen's hit "Call Me Maybe".[24]

International Man of Movember

The International Man of Movember is chosen from 21 national winners all over the world to wear the crown and be the face of Movember for a whole year. Each national Man of Movember winner is voted in at that particular country's main Gala Parté, held at the end of November, by both judges and fans.[25]

The first champion was Mark Knight from London in 2010. South Africa's Anton Taylor won the title in 2011, and in 2012 it was Chris Thwaites from New Zealand who won the coveted sash. 2013 saw Sweden's Tom Rickard crowned.

Criticism

A 2012 study published in the BMJ titled "Is Movember misleading men?" stated:

"Movember’s emphasis on screening tests, its recommendation of a frequency of screening that is not based on evidence, and its failure to provide good supporting information place well intentioned men in unhelpful conflict with their doctors. Meanwhile, the far more pressing concerns of mental illness, alcohol and substance misuse, smoking, and obesity are pressed into near silence. Is this the best we can do for men’s health?"[26]

A 2015 study published in the Journal of Cancer Education stated:

"Findings from Twitter suggest that the Movember Canada 2013 did not meet the stated campaign objective of creating conversations about men’s health and, specifically, about prostate and testicular cancers."[27]

Another 2015 study published by Delft University of Technology stated:

"We find that across countries Twitter users mostly focus on the social aspect of the Movember campaign, with relatively few tweets focusing on the health aspect of Movember. Additionally, those users that do mention health related issues, often use generic statements, instead of focusing on the two specific health issues that Movember aims to address (cancer and mental health). Surprisingly, the mental health aspect of Movember is virtually not discussed at all."[28]

Partners

Members of the Australia national rugby union team at the unveiling of a promotionally decorated Boeing 737-800 aircraft, during Movember in 2011
Transit Systems–owned Swan Transit supported movember by promotionally decorating the front grill on some of their Transperth buses with a moustache decal.

In 2011, Google Chrome partnered with Movember to create a video. The video featured real participants, and how they utilize the web and Movember.com to raise awareness and funds for the cause. The video generated well over 1.1 million views. It featured the Handsome Furs song "Repatriated."[29]

In 2010 and 2011, Movember partnered with TOMS to create limited edition Movember shoes for those participating.[30]

In 2011, Qantas supported Movember by painting a moustache and "Movember.com" on one of its airplanes.[31]

In 2011, the world's largest sandcastle Mo was built on Bondi Beach, in Sydney.[32]

A 2012 Movember video featuring Parks and Recreation star Nick Offerman was one of the top 10 most watched charity videos of the year, with 1.9 million views.[33] Offerman made additional sketches for Movember 2013.

Since 2012, Royal Mail has supported the Movember campaign and created a special postmark featuring a moustache.[34]

In November 2013, the UK National Trust authorised the temporary placement of a huge grass moustache to the Cerne Abbas Giant, the UK's largest chalk hill figure. The moustache added to the 55-metre (180 ft) giant.[35] was 12 metres (39 ft) wide and 3 metres (10 ft) deep according to the designer[36] but both the National Trust and the BBC reported it as being 36 by 9 feet (11.0 by 2.7 m).[37][38]

In 2015 Carlsberg Group beer brand made special Movember beer beauty accessories to look after mustaches and beard.[39]

In 2020, Transit Systems–owned Swan Transit decorated the front grill on some of their Transperth buses with moustache decals.

Charities

Since 2004, the Movember Foundation charity has used Movember to raise awareness and funds for men's health issues in Australia and New Zealand. Monetary proceeds go toward the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, the Cancer Society and Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand, and Beyond Blue.[40]

In 2007, the Foundation launched campaigns in Canada (funds raised go to the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation of Canada), Spain (FEFOC), the United Kingdom Prostate Cancer UK,[41] and the United States (the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Livestrong Foundation).[40] In the US, Movember's men's health partners are The Prostate Cancer Foundation and LIVESTRONG.[42][43]

In 2008, the Movember Foundation started the event in the Republic of Ireland. The beneficiary in that country is Action Prostate Cancer, an initiative of the Irish Cancer Society.[44]

A non-foundation Movember event has been held in the Cayman Islands by a "MOvember Committee" since 2006. The event has been sponsored by CML Offshore Recruitment and raises funds for the Cayman Islands Cancer Society.[45]

Video games

Players in Football Manager 2015 grow moustaches during the month of November.[46]

FIFA 14 Ultimate Team featured a Movember Cup and FIFA 17 Ultimate Team featured a Movember player promotion.[47][48]

Sony released a moustache sticker intended to be placed on the front of the DualShock 4 controller in support of Movember.[49]

In November 2012, four Movember themed games were released as Google Chrome web apps.[50]

Warframe also released a Movember special, with new moustaches each week for the players to equip on their frames in 2015.

Programs

The Movember Foundation has funded over 1,200 men's health projects globally,[51] including:

  • TrueNTH[52]
  • Nuts & Bolts (Previously TrueNTH Testicular Cancer)[53]
  • Making Connections[54]
  • Farmstrong[55]
  • Ahead of the Game[56]
  • IRONMAN[57]
  • PCF Challenge Awards[58]

Pop culture

Over the years, many athletes and celebrities have helped bring awareness to Movember, including Kevin Love,[59] and Jackie Lee.[60]

Similar events

Palácio do Planalto, the office of the President of Brazil, lighted up for "Novembro Azul" (Blue November), one of the events during Movember.

See also

Citations

  1. ↑ "Movember United States". Movember United States. Archived from the original on 26 December 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  2. ↑ Garone, Adam (November 2011). "Healthier men, one moustache at a time" (Video with transcript). TED Conferences, LLC. Archived from the original on 7 November 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2014. So in Australia, 'mo' is slang for mustache, so we renamed the month of November 'Movember'.
  3. ↑ Olga Kornienko, Grinin L, Ilyin I, Herrmann P, Korotayev A (2016). "Social and Economic Background of Blending" (PDF). Globalistics and Globalization Studies: Global Transformations and Global Future. Volgograd: Uchitel Publishing House. pp. 220–225. ISBN 978-5-7057-5026-9. Archived from the original on 25 June 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2021.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ "Movember United States - About Movember". Us.movember.com. Archived from the original on 10 December 2011. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  5. ↑ Stewart, Chato B. (17 November 2010). "Change the FACE of Men's Health by Growing a mustache for Dick Cancer | Mental Health Humor". Blogs.psychcentral.com. Archived from the original on 17 May 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
  6. ↑ "Mustaches Raise Millions for Men's Health". Myfoxdc.com. Archived from the original on 23 October 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
  7. ↑ "Movember". Movember. Archived from the original on 27 May 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  8. ↑ "Movember". Movember. Archived from the original on 8 April 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  9. ↑ "Movember United States - Mo Money". Us.movember.com. Archived from the original on 21 November 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  10. ↑ Doll, Jen (1 November 2011). "Movember: Shave Off Your Moustache (and Grow It Back) for Men's Health, Amusement - New York News - Runnin' Scared". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on 4 December 2011. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  11. 1 2 "'Movember' gets hairy, for a cause". CNN. 1 November 2011. Archived from the original on 18 November 2011. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  12. 1 2 "AM980 News Talk Sports From Scary To Hairy, Halloween Is Over But Movember Is Just Starting Local News". Am980.ca. Archived from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  13. ↑ "Canadian website". Ca.movember.com. Archived from the original on 29 November 2011. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
  14. ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions". Tacheback. Archived from the original on 20 November 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  15. ↑ "Top 100 NGOs". The Global Journal. Archived from the original on 26 March 2013. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  16. 1 2 Ashcroft, J. (30 November 1999) Seven Nightly News Movember Mo-Phenomenon |https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPH0qQFqs0M%7C Archived 26 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine, Channel 7 Adelaide
  17. ↑ Goldberg, Eleanor (4 November 2011). "'Movember' Urges Men To Grow Facial Hair, Fundraise For Prostate Cancer Awareness (SLIDESHOW)". HuffPost. Archived from the original on 7 November 2011. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  18. ↑ "Movember Australia". movember.com.au. Archived from the original on 12 December 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  19. ↑ Flandez, Raymund (13 November 2011). "Charity Tries New Messages and Logos Every Year - Marketing and Communications - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas". Philanthropy.com. Archived from the original on 28 November 2011. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  20. ↑ "Movember". Movember. Archived from the original on 8 April 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  21. ↑ "A Social Media Look into the Madness of 'Movember'". SmallWerks. 4 November 2011. Archived from the original on 19 November 2011. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  22. ↑ Kwoh, Leslie (30 November 2012). "Movember- Moustache-Growing Event Draws CEOs and Company Leaders - At Work - WSJ". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 4 December 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  23. ↑ "Movember Launches 'The Moscars' Video Contest". PRLog. 7 October 2010. Archived from the original on 8 October 2010. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  24. ↑ "The Moscars 2012". Movember. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
  25. ↑ "What is Movember? Here's Absolutely Everything You Need to Know". beardicure.com. 31 October 2016. Archived from the original on 21 April 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  26. ↑ McCartney, Margaret (28 November 2012). "Is Movember misleading men?". BMJ. 345: e8046. doi:10.1136/bmj.e8046. ISSN 1756-1833. PMID 23190912. S2CID 11098960.
  27. ↑ Bravo, Caroline A.; Hoffman-Goetz, Laurie (1 June 2016). "Tweeting About Prostate and Testicular Cancers: Do Twitter Conversations and the 2013 Movember Canada Campaign Objectives Align?". Journal of Cancer Education. 31 (2): 236–243. doi:10.1007/s13187-015-0796-1. ISSN 1543-0154. PMID 25649663. S2CID 14883150.
  28. ↑ Nugroho Dwi Prasetyo, Claudia Hauff, Dong Nguyen, Tijs van den Broek, Djoerd Hiemstra. "On the Impact of Twitter-based Health Campaigns: A Cross-Country Analysis of Movember" (PDF). Delft University of Technology Delft, the Netherlands.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  29. ↑ Julia Kilgore (18 November 2011). "Movember: If You Don't Know, Google It :: AdVirtues: virtuous advertising is not an oxymoron…and we can prove it!". AdVirtues. Archived from the original on 29 January 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  30. ↑ "Movember - Limited Edition - Help Change the Face of Men's Health". TOMS.com. 23 September 2011. Archived from the original on 23 November 2011. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  31. ↑ "Movember: Qantas Celebrates by Growing a 'Mo'". International Business Times. 14 November 2011. Archived from the original on 23 October 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  32. ↑ "Bondi Beach Lifeguards And Amanda Hinchcliffe Help Build Giant Mo Sandcastle!". Media Man International (mediamanint.com). 22 November 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
  33. ↑ "The Most Viral Video Charity Campaigns of 2012". Corp.visiblemeasures.com. Archived from the original on 7 December 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  34. ↑ "Royal Mail's Movember campaign". Royalmailgroup.com. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  35. ↑ "Cerne Abbas Giant". Cool Places Ltd. 2015. Archived from the original on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  36. ↑ "Cerne Giant Watch our Cerne Giant Movember video". National Trust. 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2015. |Note: The measurements are taken from the video clip, entitled, Watch our Cerne Giant Movember video Starting at 39 seconds into the video, Richard Brown, from British Seed Houses, says, "The moustache is 12 metres long by three metres deep and it took five of us four and a half hours to construct it on the day."
  37. ↑ "Giant support for Movember is a sight to behold". National Trust. 1 November 2013. Archived from the original on 6 November 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  38. ↑ "Cerne Abbas Giant sports moustache for Movember". BBC News. BBC. 1 November 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  39. ↑ "Carlsberg Beer Beaty". Archived from the original on 21 September 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  40. 1 2 "Movember Australia - Movember Foundation". Movember Foundation. 2008. Archived from the original on 19 July 2008. Retrieved 4 November 2008.
  41. ↑ "Prostate Cancer UK". Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  42. ↑ "Movember - Prostate Cancer Foundation". PCF. Archived from the original on 1 December 2011. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  43. ↑ "'Movember' Urges Men To Grow Facial Hair, Fundraise For Prostate Cancer Awareness (SLIDESHOW)". HuffPost. 4 November 2011. Archived from the original on 17 November 2011. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  44. ↑ "Fund Raising Outcomes". Movember Ireland. Movember Foundation. 2008. Archived from the original on 5 January 2009. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
  45. ↑ "MOvember News". Movember.ky. Archived from the original on 2 January 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2007.
  46. ↑ "Football Manager 15 is so realistic players will grow moustaches for Movember". Metro. UK. 11 October 2014. Archived from the original on 22 October 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  47. ↑ "FIFA 14 Ultimate Team Supports Movember". easports.com. Archived from the original on 9 November 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  48. ↑ "FIFA 17 ULTIMATE TEAM™ - MOVEMBER". easports.com. Archived from the original on 25 August 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  49. ↑ "PlayStation joins the Movember men's health charity movement". ign.com. 15 October 2014. Archived from the original on 21 October 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  50. ↑ "Movember collaborates with Google Chrome on 'Movember Games'". marketingmag.com.au. 12 November 2012. Archived from the original on 5 November 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  51. ↑ "Movember". Movember. Archived from the original on 27 May 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  52. ↑ "TrueNTH Home". truenorth.movember.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  53. ↑ "Nuts & Bolts - The tools to tackle testicular cancer". nutsandbolts.movember.com. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  54. ↑ "Making Connections for Mental Health and Wellbeing Among Men and Boys | Prevention Institute". www.preventioninstitute.org. Archived from the original on 7 April 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  55. ↑ "Home". Farmstrong - Live Well Farm Well. Archived from the original on 7 April 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  56. ↑ "Ahead of the Game". aheadofthegame.movember.com. Archived from the original on 8 March 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  57. ↑ "Home". ironmanregistry.org. Archived from the original on 7 April 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  58. ↑ "The Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Movember Foundation Announce 2018 Challenge Awards Winners". 16 August 2018. Archived from the original on 7 April 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  59. ↑ "Schick Hydro Aligns With Kevin Love, Movember Foundation". www.sportsbusinessdaily.com.
  60. ↑ "Jackie Lee Launches 'Movember' with a Shave Down". 7 November 2018. Archived from the original on 7 April 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  61. ↑ Men are campaigning for Bowel cancer awareness by growing beards this December Archived 12 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Metro, 8 December 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2016

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