By Aisling Kett
Donations to the Irish Cancer Society have more than doubled to over €440,000 in the last 24 hours as a result of The No Make Up Selfie for Cancer Awareness campaign. Irish women are posting selfies without make up, and nominating friends to do the same, in an effort to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer.
We are overwhelmed with the amount of support received to date with the #nomakeupselfies If you wish to donate €4 you can text PINK to 50300
— Irish Cancer Society (@IrishCancerSoc) March 20, 2014
Donna Parsons from the Irish Cancer Society said the charity had no plans to get directly involved with the campaign as it was one that grew organically online and the charity was directly involved but instead are delighted with the funds and awareness raised.
Parsons added that the selfie trend hasn’t seen a rise in volunteering for upcoming events like Daffodil Day on 28th March. Instead most people are choosing to donate to breast cancer research via text.
It unclear how the viral trend started with independent.ie stating it is a response to the Neknominations craze, which saw people nominated to ‘neck’ an alcoholic drink in the fastest time possible. Others, such as the Journal.ie, report crime novelist Laura Lippman started the campaign with her response to criticism on the appearance of actress Kim Novak.
No makeup, kind lighting. #itsokkimnovak pic.twitter.com/OTzTabg32Y
— Laura Lippman (@LauraMLippman) March 5, 2014
Celebrities such as Michelle Heaton and Kym Marsh have now gotten involved.
Took this last night forgot to post it.. #breastcancerawareness #makeupfreeselfie #supportthecause pic.twitter.com/mP8FxmFEOX
— michelle heaton (@wonderwomanshel) March 19, 2014
The campaign has raised over £2 million for Cancer Research UK. https://twitter.com/msm4rsh/status/446253174094315520
Thank you for helping to raise over £2m with your #nomakeupselfie pics to help #beatcancersooner.Get involved, here: http://t.co/ZivWJbawWz
— Cancer Research UK (@CR_UK) March 21, 2014
There is also a male equivalent, encouraging men to ‘Man Up and Make Up’ in support of cancer by taking a selfie wearing make up.
The official campaign Facebook page had more than 251,000 ‘likes’ at the time of writing and ‘Text Pink to 50300’ was the top trend on Twitter. The online response has been overwhelmingly positive to the campaign though some have questioned its effectiveness.
https://twitter.com/hollybrocks/status/446245117364809728
Awareness does not help cure cancer. Your #nomakeupselfie has done nothing but show people how pale you are without makeup. Well done you!
— Suzanne (@suzannedrum) March 18, 2014
If you would like to make a €4 donation to the Irish Cancer Society text Pink or Daff to 50300.
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