Movember
You might remember it as Mo Bro, moustache November
This spread through many posts rather than one canonical upload.
2003·Early web, before YouTube
Growing a moustache through November to raise money for men’s health.
At a glanceThe facts
- Remembered as
- Mo Bro
- Spread in
- 2003
- Format
- Challenge
- Made by
- Adam Garone, Travis Garone, Luke Slattery and Justin Coughlin, in Melbourne in 2003
- Who or what it shows
- Prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide prevention
- Origin
- No single original
- Available
- Not held by ViralWorld
What this wasThe story
An Australian idea from 2003: grow a moustache through November and be sponsored for it. One of the earliest participatory internet challenges to become a durable institution rather than a fortnight's trend.
Why it matteredWhat changed
By 2012 more than a million people were doing it and raising ninety-five million dollars a year.
TimelineIn order
- Made
A group of young men in Adelaide coin the word, and a television news programme reports on them.1
- Made
Four friends in Melbourne begin the version that becomes a foundation.1
- Later
Nearly 500 people raise more than 40,000 dollars for a prostate cancer charity.1
- Mainstream
It is launched in Canada, Britain, the United States and other countries.1
- Record
1.1 million participants raise upwards of 95 million dollars.1
What people misrememberSet straight
Commonly remembered asIt began in Melbourne in 2003.
ActuallyThe word, and the idea, were on the news in Adelaide in 1999.1
Why it is here: something the internet still knows by name · it got out of its own corner of the internet fast · still being watched and quoted years later
Where it came fromWhat we know
This spread through many posts rather than one identifiable original. No copy is held here — what it was, when it spread and what people called it is what this page can tell you.
Nothing here is claimed to be the first version of this. It spread through many posts rather than from one identifiable original.
Not established. This index only names a creator where the evidence supports it.
SourcesWhat was read
Sources last read on . That date is about the history on this page. Whether the media still plays is checked separately and can change any day. How ViralWorld documents things