Every year in November, Movember invites men to grow a mustache. The event is intended to raise public awareness about male diseases, such as prostate cancer.
If in this month of November you see more and more men wearing mustaches, don’t worry ladies, you have undoubtedly come across “Mo Bros”! These men who proudly wear mustaches are actually activists of the “Movember” movement, which aims to raise awareness in order to raise funds for research into male diseases, such as prostate cancer. And obviously, this movement is very successful. Stars like footballer David Beckham and actor Georges Clooney take part every year. With 21,000 members of the “Movember France” facebook page, more and more French people are now sharing this experience. why actor explains the origins and successes of these mustaches.
The beginnings of the Mo Bros
Movember (or Movember) is an annual event organized by the foundation Movember Foundation Charity. The term comes from the contraction of “Mo”, short for mustache, and November. Since 2003, this Australian foundation has taken up the challenge of “changing the face of men’s health”. Because for the “Mo Bros”, it all started in Adelaide, Australia. In 1999, a small group of 80 people took on the challenge of growing a mustache for the first time throughout the month of November. Thanks to this new concept, they sell t-shirts that allow them to raise funds for charities such as the RSCPA (association against cruelty to animals). At that time, however, the initiative remained anecdotal and local.
Subsequently, in 2003, a group of friends from Melbourne seized on the idea of the mustache. Noting that men pay less attention to their health than women, and that male diseases often remain taboo, these Australians invite 30 men to grow their mustaches for 30 days. This is the real beginnings of Movember, which aims to raise funding for medical research. The association is now concentrating its action, in particular in favor of the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
The success of the movementt
But this small group of anonymous quickly meets with success. And today it has officially become the Movember Foundation Charity. At present, more than 20 countries are participating in the movement, and recently France has been an active member of the Foundation.
The Global Journal, a Swiss magazine, recently considered Movember to be one of the world’s largest non-governmental associations. As a result, the foundation has already raised $ 174 million worldwide. The prize for this commitment goes to Canada, which remains the most active and involved country in the movement, ahead of Australia.
In 2012, more than 1.1 million people took part, bringing in 101,584,371 million euros for the association. This success is mainly due to the community and global nature of the event, which is shared and relayed on social networks.
How to participate
Men who want to take part in Movember should register on the foundation’s official website, movember.com, and start the month clean-shaven. Officially becoming “Mo Bros”, they owe it to themselves to grow their mustache and maintain it throughout the month of November. No goatee or beard is allowed, hairs should be concentrated only above the upper lip. In addition to displaying their support for the cause in a pilar fashion, participants are encouraged to collect donations, particularly through social networks. Each country that supports Movember has its own fan page on the Facebook site.
Finally, the men taking part in the event post photos of their mustache growing progress and encourage their friends to fund the charity they’ve chosen. The Mo Bros thus support each other, providing advice and encouragement. So gentlemen, you now know what you have to do, throw away your razors!
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