Example Campaign: ALS Ice Bucket Challenge (2014)

Hi Madi, yeah your right…. But,

For me, the whole thing was basically peer pressure. Full disclosure: yes, I did the challenge but only because my daughter and my niece and my cousin nominated me. It felt like if I didn’t do it, I’d be letting them and the whole community down. Almost like those ridiculous chain emails from the 2000s: “Forward this to 10 people or someone you love will die.” Not exactly the same stakes, but you get the vibe. That pressure to keep the chain unbroken was real. The next day people would come up to you and say hey, did you forward that email?!?! And I’d say no I’m obviously not gonna die and then they would be like oh my gosh just forward the email so I would forward the email! Rosario et al. (2019) point out that eWOM thrives on social belonging, and the nomination mechanic weaponised that perfectly.

Is it Altruism or vanity? You emphasised altruism, which was definitely there. But if I’m honest, in my own case the charity angle was forgotton. Proving I wasn’t a spoilsport trumped it allBerger (2014) would call that “social currency.” I think it’s a leverage. So was this activism… or global humblebragging? Someone once said everything you gotta learn in life. You already learn it in kindergarten and I think it’s true because I think the playground rules of virality reign, whatever the age! Remember in kindergarten when dare, double dare, triple dare with a cherry on top was sacred law? If you didn’t comply, you risked social exile. The Ice Bucket Challenge played on the exact same psychology. Why does that childhood dynamic still carry so much weight in adulthood? Maybe eWOM is just an upgraded playground game with better cameras. i also think the odd the curious and the silly will always win attention. Would it have worked if it had been dead serious? Perhaps for a small crowd of people that work in that medical realm or are going through it personally. Berger & Milkman (2012) show that high-arousal emotions make content spread. Freezing water plus awkward squeals create adrenaline. is it then Platform vs. campaign genius when Algorithms loved video in 2014, which boosted the campaign. But what if TikTok had existed? Would it have gone nuclear or fizzled faster? Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) say the medium shapes the message. Maybe we’re crediting the campaign for what the platform enabled. was it Memes or marketing? Look at planking, the cinnamon challenge, mannequin challenge… most fizzled. Shifman (2014) argues memes behave like cultural jokes, not strategies. So can brands engineer virality, or do they just get lucky when lightning strikes?

To me, the genius of the Ice Bucket Challenge is that it blended, entertainment, and playground peer pressure into one and It gave people a chance to “do good” while also laughing at themselves and proving they belonged. And that combination is probably why a decade later, we’re still unpacking it — and still slightly traumatised by the sound of ice water hitting a bucket.

What do you think?