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Since 2004, Movember has made its mark in being a major global campaign. The charity has three areas they support and fundraise towards; Mental Health & Suicide Prevention, Prostate Cancer and Testicular Cancer.

All last month a number of our recruitment consultants, recruitment managers and other recruitment staff worked hard at growing their best Mo’s to support the campaign.

A great Gravitonian team effort resulted in £575 raised for charity!

As we move into December and say goodbye to Movember for another year, it’s a great time to look at Movember’s journey and its impact, as well as provide some bonus facts to share to your Mo Bro’s and Mo Sister’s...

1.       Outback Origins

Movember’s origin story happened in Melbourne Australia over a couple of quiet beers in 2003. Travis Garone and Luke Slattery were inspired by a friend’s mother fundraising for breast cancer and decided to make their own fundraising campaign in awareness of prostate cancer as well as men’s health.

The first official campaign was in November 2004 with 30 mustache-ers getting involved!

2.       Moustaches: A Lost Trend

The concept of Movember came from a conversation surrounding fashion trends.

Moustaches were widely popular in pop culture during 70s, with the 80s coined as a ‘decade of the moustache. Moustache Icons such as Tom Selleck covered the media, with other icons like Freddie Mercury and Hulk Hogan flaunting their memorable ‘taches.

However, the style was out of trend in the late 90s and when the Movember concept was born. Ironically, Movember actually caused a comeback with millennials, seeing a revival of the ‘tache and new celebrities coining the moustache as part of their image; Justin Bieber being one of them.

3.       On the road to a billion...

Since Movember was created, the last 19 years has seen £802mil raised for Men’s Health across 20 different countries, with £14.1 raised last year in UK alone.

The funding goes to 20 different partners, with over 1250+ projects funded across prostate cancer, men's health, mental health and suicide prevention, as well as testicular cancer. Some countries taking part include Singapore, Belgium and the US.

 

4.       It’s not the only relevant November calendar date to think about...

During the course of Movember, it is also International Men’s Day (IMD) on the 19th, with the date being introduced in 2010. It is a day to raise awareness for male suicide, so collaborative campaigns will often happen with both Movember and IMD.

 

5.       The world record for the longest moustache?

The record for the longest moustache resides in India, achieved by Ram Singh back in 2010. Even though this was over 10 years ago, this has never been beaten as Ram still grows his moustache, now measuring at 19.3 feet confirmed on his official Instagram.

 

6.       There is an official Movember song.

In 2010, Movember launched an online video contest for its 4th campaign. Stan Lee awarded Derick Watts & The Sunday Blues for creating The Movember Song - a parody of ‘Call Me Maybe’ by Carly Ray Jepson.

 

7.       Planes also appear to be getting involved…

Planes have been getting their taches on during Movember to support the cause, such as British Airways and Australian’s airline Qantas. These airlines have been painting a black moustache on the front of their aircrafts to fly around and publicize the initiative.

 

8.       King of Hearts is the only card without a moustache.

This was an accident due to reproduction of the original design losing his moustache. That wasn’t the only error, by which his axe became a sword!

 

9.       Real or False – Does shaved hair grow back thicker?

No – a common misconception. Your hair does not grow back thicker.

 

10.   Henry Crew set out to break a world record for Movember…

Henry, his moustache and motorbike took on the world in a year-long challenge. His aim was to travel around the world by motorbike, inspired by Movember and the awareness it brings to mental health.

Not only smashing this challenge in 363 days, travelling 55,000 miles and raising £11,000; he then becam the youngest motorcyclist to do so.

 

There is certainly more to Movember than meets the eye – or moustache.

Movember is just one of the team initiatives we take part in during the year at Gravitas. If you are looking for a recruitment job or a job in sales and would like to be involved with our efforts or join with the fun, we are always looking for those up for the challenge!

Find out more about the recruitment jobs we have available here.

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