There’s a new diabetes awareness campaign taking the lead in America: the Diabetes Dance Dare.
The social media campaign was launched last month by the American Diabetes Association (ADA), which is recruiting A-list celebrities to highlight the impact of diabetes.
So far, household names such as former basketball player Shaquille O’Neal and singer Usher have accepted the dare, which involves posting a dance online and then donating to the ADA.
Diabetes Dance Dare works in four stages.
First, pick your song from a variety of options, then film a 23-second video that adequately demonstrates your shape-cutting efficiency. The videos are 23 seconds long to symbolise that someone in the US is diagnosed with diabetes every 23 seconds.
Next, share your jiggiest moves on social media using the hashtag #DiabetesDanceDare, and dare three people to take the dare. The last stage is donating to the ADA.
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Diabetes Dance Dare launched at the end of September, and the ADA said it has more celebrities lined up to ‘get on the floor’ in the coming weeks.
Similarities have naturally been made to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, a phenomenon of a campaign which, in 2014, raised a staggering $115 million in donations to the national chapter of the ALS Association.
The unexpected success of the Ice Bucket Challenge has since led to the funding of an ALS breakthrough, and the ADA hopes the Diabetes Dance Dare will achieve its own level of success.
The charity wants to empower people to get moving. Physical activity can help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes among at-risk individuals, and exercise can help regulate blood sugar levels in people with either type 2 or type 1 diabetes.
The campaign has already reached members of the Diabetes Forum. “Anybody heard of the new charity craze in USA?” asks Davec2802.
Awareness campaigns such as Diabetes Dance Dare are pivotal in generating fundraising and public knowledge about diabetes, with social media being used more and more to deploy innovative initiatives.
In 2014, Diabetes.co.uk launched the record-breaking #BloodSugarSelfie campaign to raise awareness of World Diabetes Day, which received the 2015 EHI Award in the “Best Use of Social Media to Deliver a Health Campaign” category.
Have you, or anyone you know, raised money for diabetes awareness? Share your stories in the comments section below.
Picture: ListSurge
