Should I thank Olivier Gonzalez, CEO of Twitter France, for nominating me in the Ice Bucket Challenge this Sunday? After some thought, I decided to make my very own Ice Bucket Challenge video. I could have invoked multiple reasons for not playing the game, or contented myself with donating to the ALS association without making a hooplah. Between the colossal amount of #IceBucketChallenge videos already published (over twenty million), the controversy over the management of the ALS foundation, the waste of our planet’s water, and showing a bad example to younger generations by taking part in silly or even dangerous challenges, it isn’t hard to find reasons why taking part in this debauchery is not really necessary. I could have also donated to any other association of my choice, or simply broken the pattern by not answering to my nomination.
Even though I agree with some of these critiques, I chose to accept the challenge by donating to ALS AND taking an ice cold shower, and nominating more people. Why? Simply because I want to see how far this mass phenomenon will go (it is already one of the largest and most universal phenomenons since Psy and his Gangnam Style).
The extraordinary success of the Ice Bucket Challenge calls upon all communication professionals to deconstruct and analyze the viral trend to see how it has seduced so many anonymous and celebrity people across the entire world (Bill Gates’ Ice Bucket Challenge video below is at nearly 19 million views).
How, when there are millions of other similar ‘challenges’ across the web including ones that call upon a donation to an association, has this particular ‘idea’ spiraled to such magnitude and stirred up such a huge involvement for this cause and this association? In order to better understand, I dove into the genesis of this idea and applied the grid of my book, The Killer Idea.
Contrary to what many believe, celebrity baseball player Pete Frates who suffers from Lou Gherig’s disease is not at the origin of the #IceBucketChallenge. Even though he did play a key role in perpetuating the phenomenon, it is actually professional golfer Chris Kennedy who launched the movement. on July 14th, Chris Kennedy reapplied the idea « donate to an association or pour an ice bucket over your head » that was already going around amongst professional athletes including Greg Norma, Jeremy McGrath and female basketball players. But without ever mentioning Lou Gherig’s disease or ALS. The idea of associating an ice bucket with a financial donation is not new in itself (see Slate’s article Who invented the Ice Bucket Challenge ?). "Polar bear Plunges" were practiced in Boston in 1904, and in the '80s « Gatorade Showers » popularized drenching your coach or teammate with Gatorade in the athletic world. In 2013, people were pouring ice buckets over each other’s heads and posting the photos and videos on Instagram. The hashtag #IceBucketChallenge first appeared on May 29th. on the website « Know your meme », the combination of an ice bucket and donating to an association goes back to March 2014 under the name "Water Challenge" or "The 24 Hour Challenge". Chris Kennedy, however, chose to apply his challenge to ALS because his cousin’s husband suffers from Lou Gherig’s disease. Kennedy’s video was seen by Pat Quinn who also suffers from the disease, who supported the publication in his Facebook group. From there, the challenge was picked up by Pete Frates, whose mobilization reached other athlete celebrities, and their participation was quickly picked up by the media. So why did this existing movement only get big in July? And why for a disease that is little known? How did the name #IceBucketChallenge impose itself as a killer idea?
When you take a closer look, it seems that the Ice Bucket Challenge (just like Psy’s Gangnam Style, read my post about that here) responds quite well to the 10 criteria listed in my book that determine whether or not it is a killer idea. Indeed, it has all the elements to drive a propagating force: Context, Subversion, Endorsement, First impression, Wording, Visual symbol, Story-telling, Tangible proofs, Free media, and Shareable content.
1. In terms of context, the idea has emerged out of heavy socio-cultural circumstances in which we feel the need to show our generosity, to laugh and make laugh in a time of crisis, and the need to demonstrate our ability to not take ourselves too seriously. Add to that a purely cyclical and highly favorable element: the summer season, during which we tend to have more time and more possibilities to participate in the movement.
2. The idea contains its own unique form of subversion, mixing together the demonstration of physical ‘courage’ (getting drenched with ice water) and moral ‘courage’ (confronting the absurdity of the situation). It is evidently the physical and moral ‘challenge’ combination that gives the #IceBucketChallenge its energy and its virality, and therefore its disruptive force, what makes it stand out amongst the other existing sharable content made to profit an association via social networks. In addition, refusing to play along when you’ve been nominated makes you lose face publicly and within your group of friends. There lies the subversive force of this idea, the fact that you are, in a sense, forced to submit to it.
3. The #IceBucketChallenge phenomenon owes its success in part to the celebrities who took on the role of spokespeople. Celebrity baseball player Pete Frates played a decisive role in the success of this fight against Lou Gehrig’s disease, in part because he was able to generate implication amongst other celebrities, at first in the athletic world, but also because he gave a face, and thus credit to the ALS association. Pete Frates is not the author of the movement, but he is indeed the spokesperson (video above).
4. Introduction: The #IceBucketChallenge was well introduced. Just like Facebook owes its breakthrough success to the fact that it was born on Harvard’s campus, the #IceBucketChallenge owes its lasting success to the quantity of celebrities that associated their name to the movement and inspired a great amount of people to imitate them. The reasoning is classic: if the stars I love accept the challenge even if it means ridiculing themselves, why wouldn’t I?
5. Choice of words: #IceBucketChallenge is a more specific name than previous ones that did not go very far – it associates the basic dimension of an “Ice Bucket” with the idea of a challenge, a dare, which incites people to answer more favorably when nominated. I’m not saying here that the phenomenon would not have worked with another name, but this one is clearly superior to other names previously associated with videos of getting drenched with ice buckets.
6. The key visual: the image of the exact moment when water is dumped on someone’s head is the key visual that everyone is looking for when watching these videos. Certain nominees even film this part in slow motion, proof that this precise moment is the motive for viewing, and therefore for sharing. And not to mention our curiosity for seeing peoples’ bodies getting wet (dressed or undressed!).
7. In this case, storytelling comes into play at the macro and micro levels. At the macro level, the story is contributing to a good deed. This explains how the original idea, “donate OR pour a bucket of ice water over your head,” has now become “donate AND pour an ice bucket over your head.” At the micro level, a script ritual has literally set in: first thanking the person who nominated you, citing ALS, nominating the following people, and pouring the ice bucket over your head. It’s an easy to follow and easily reproducible formula -- completely characteristic of memes.
8. Tangible Proofs. Every new video is tangible proof that further feeds the phenomenon since new nominees are named, but also perpetuates the success of the idea since the videos are viewable by everyone, not just the nominees.
9. Free Media. Not only is the idea by definition viral since it is conceived for social networks (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter), but it is also fiercely promoted by Facebook, who sees in it a unique opportunity. For the first time, people prefer to use Facebook rather than other social networks to upload and share their #IceBucketChallenge videos. It’s no coincidence that Laurent Solly (President of Facebook France) played a huge role in introducing the French version of the challenge. By contributing to the success of the #IceBucketChallenge, Facebook contributed to its own success. More than any other brand that has attempted to get a piece of the pie, Facebook is definitely the winner of this challenge.
10. Shareable content. In order to propagate, an idea needs to be profiled as sharable, in particular on social networks. The #IceBucketChallenge’s short video format is perfect for ‘going viral’, and its ‘rules of the game’ (nominating three more people) sets up an intangible system. Its very essence is sharable and viral material.
So there you have it, the TEN COMMANDMENTS of The Killer Idea have been respected! This is why I believe the Ice Bucket Challenge is not only a killer idea, but also an idea that is far from dead and that will leave long-lasting traces.
And for your entertainment, here is my #IceBucketChallenge video, (in French, sorry!).