Freeze! Let’s be responsible, responsibly…

Oh no.

My best friend in Dubai has just posted a Facebook video challenging me to the Ice Bucket challenge.

Now, if I am to be a good sport, I should immediately (within 48 hours) grab my video and a mop bucket and proceed to pour freezing water and ice over my head and post it on social media for my friends and family to Like and Tweet…

But I don’t want to and I’m not going to. I’m not one for following the crowd normally. And although this has been a phenomenal PR idea in terms of publicity and engagement – there are some deeply moral questions that need to be addressed. In this regards I find myself in a growing community of naysayers, with Pamela Anderson and a copy of The Guardian newspaper. And with good reason.

So before you go about thinking deeply about the innovative way you can post your own ‘Ice Bucket Challenge’ for yourself, or heaven forbid your client, here are five things you should consider.

No-one wants to see ‘Sir’ in his Speedos… 

YouTube and Facebook are highly engaging ‘Youth’ media. As children return to schools this autumn, I wouldn’t be surprised if many are giggling and making fun of their teacher who participated in unthinking, good spirit. I really wouldn’t want to see my own professor in his bathing costume. The idea of my daughter or son’s teacher parading all and sundry would inspire me to notify the authorities! And it’s not just teachers.

Anyone in a position of responsibility – including Hollywood celebrities – should avoid Ice Bucket as it sends the message that exposing yourself on the Internet is OK as long as its for a good cause. I don’t need to explain the importance of protecting minors from online predators, bullying and potential anxiety about your personal body shape. There is also the long-term harm it can do to your employability and relationship with clients, and this is appropriate for children and Peter Pans alike.

Ice buckets are heavy and dangerous….

You Tube is full of ‘Ice Bucket’ fails where teenage boys are proving their strength carrying heavy dustbins of ice onto balconies and attempting to pour over their girlfriends or sisters below.

The outcome? Well it’s obvious, with more than a couple of concussions arising from muscles freezing at the impromptu moment. Other shorts show family members slipping on spilled water or ice, or falling into lakes. The number of accidents and the potential severity is enormous. In fact, news reports are already recording at least one fatality in Scotland. I’ve seen parents participate with their children in a spirit of fun.

Seriously… I’ve been watching enough Super Nanny this summer to understand that children take their behavioural cues from their parents and even if you are doing this in a safe environment, please don’t expect that your son or daughter won’t try and repeat when they reach nursery. America is the home of court cases and a class action against Hollywood for encouraging this behaviour which inflicted Lil Sally-Anne with a permanent spinal injury is only weeks away.

And for people who say this was for charity – well, that’s not going to stand in court. A responsible adult would have donated money or time instead of trying to court publicity which is the only reason to Instragram, YouTube and Tweet it to the world. And, for the record – I am available to give expert testimonial…

This is encouraging a waste culture…

It might be a bucket, a glass or a thimble of ice water. It doesn’t matter. The Ice Bucket challenge effectively sends the message its fine to waste such a valuable commodity if it’s for a ‘good cause’. But there are people in poorer parts of the world who are in dire need of it.

The Asian communities in China have taken up protest against the Ice Bucket Challenge. In India, the Rice Bucket challenge concept has been launched. Yes it’s fun – but if it’s for charity, then please don’t disregard other important issues as well. We only need to take inspiration from the HH Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Water Campaign to understand the importance of water, and I’m delighted so many have participated to make the initiative such a great success.

Animals have rights too…

Pamela Anderson was the first to campaign against the Ice Bucket challenge as the ‘charity’ allegedly uses animal testing within its pharmaceutical process. Now I’m not qualified to complain against whether the organisation concerned does test products on animals, or whether it is reasonable to undertake such exercises in light of medical ethics.

But I will say that to completely ignore this issue is wrong. If we go about saying and teaching our children that it’s alright to forget animal rights when it suits us i.e. when its fun and we can get some Facebook likes, then that’s a dangerous precedent.

If you have researched the practices and understand the consequences and still go on, well I think that’s your personal choice. But to just ignore it altogether is really harmful for the collective morality of our global community. Also, please, please, please, do not subject your pets to Ice Bucket…

Trivialising CSR…

I can see it now in every American multinational board room and executive committee meeting room. Let’s do a viral CSR campaign like Ice Bucket!

“We’ll get a couple of celebrities to do something crazy for a charity and brand it and hey! We got CSR.” Oh no… I hope not, but it’s going to happen somewhere. Until it does, I’m happily enjoying ice the way it should be served – in a blended coffee drink with whipped cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce. .

Santé!