Grow the Mo! Movember is here.
Grow the Mo!
Grow the Mo! The Movember Foundation is calling on all guys to grow the mo and Mo Bros and Mo Sistas to spread the word for improved testing and treatment options for prostate cancer.
It was 2003 when two friends, Travis Garone and Luke Slattery, met to have a beer at a local pub in Melbourne, Australia. Chatting over a beer they discussed that moustaches had really fallen out of favour and rarely saw a fellow with a moustache. They jokingly wondered if they could start a fashion trend again and bring the moustache back. The two friends decided to encourage their friends to grow a moustache. At that time one of their friend’s mother was fundraising for breast cancer. The idea was struck that the moustache would be a campaign about men’s health and prostate cancer. They designed rules for the contest and agreed to charge $10.00 to grow a Mo.
Are You Man Enough to Be My Man?
Travis designed the first Movember logo and sent an email to friends titled “Are you man enough to be my man?” Thirty friends enthusiastically embraced the challenge. Two more friends came on to help manage the campaign. The next year, 2004, a decision was made to formalize the idea and get all the participants growing the Mo for the cause of men’s prostate cancer. A company was registered, a website created and Justin Coghlan came on board to run the campaign. All funds were to be donated to The Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia. By 2006, the four co-founders established an official Australian charity – the Movember Foundation. In 2007, with the growing enthusiasm from Mo Bros and Mo Sistas around the world, the campaign was launched internationally. The US and Canadian campaigns were launched in partnership with the Prostate Cancer Foundation and Prostate Cancer Canada. In 2007, Mo Bros and Mo Sistas in 6 countries raised $21.5 million dollars and generated enormous awareness of men’s health issues.
Since the start by 2 friends sharing a pint in a pub, the campaign has grown at an extraordinary pace around the world. The focus has broadened to four key health issues for men – prostate cancer, testicular cancer, poor mental health and physical inactivity. With the millions of moustaches grown, there have been significant breakthroughs in medical research and a fundamental shift in the topic of men’s health.
The Movember Foundation is the only charity tackling men’s health on a global scale. So to all the Mo Bro’s and Mo Sista’s out there – let’s support this worthy cause for the month of November.
