Movember draws attention to men's health, boosts profits for sponsors

Movember originated in Australia in 2003 when 30 men challenged each other to bring backthe moustache as a fashion trend. In 2004, Movember began raising funds to fight prostatecancer.

Today, the Movember organization is active in more than20 countries and has raised wellover half a billion dollars to fund mens physical and mental health.

The annual fundraiser is promoted differently in various countries, as seen in this ad that ran in the United States.

And heres one of the ways Movember is promoted in Canada.

Over the years, Movember commercials have tended to use a lot of humour.But a2011 ad for the U.S. Prostate Cancer Foundation is thought to have gone a little too far.

In it, we see a burly, middle-age, middle European man surprising male passersby by snapping onrubber gloves and offering to check their prostates.

The trouble was, the ad made prostate exams look so scary and unpleasant, it actuallyincreased mens anxiety about being tested which may explain why this year,the ProstateCancer Foundation is running this safe and reassuringly boring ad.

Along with charitable organizations, marketers have also climbed aboard the Movemberbandwagonto raise awareness of mens healthas well as their own products. Heres a 2013commercial from Denmark starring Adrien Brody.

Now, those of us familiar with the breast cancer sponsorship model from this month mightassume that Gillette would have made a Movember contribution for every Fusion ProGlideit sold in November. However, that wasnt the case.

The company reportedly made a flatdonation, with no further proceeds tied to product purchases, which was also true of thisMovember sponsor from last year.

The best advice for getting involved with Movember is to sponsor someone whos growing amoustache, or send your donation directly to the Movember organization. Then you know forsure where your moneys going, as opposed to buying products from Movember sponsorswhose donation practices may be a little bit fuzzy.