If your social media news feed isn’t about some pathetic Buzzfeed list or the latest in Ferguson, MO, chances are it’s a video of somebody pouring cold water over their heads. This viral marketing phenomenon is known as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, and it has raised tens of millions of dollars to help fight amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. This movement has spread like a bad cold, eventually finding itself to GM CEO Mary Barra.
Barra had been called out by Opel chief by Karl-Thomas Neumann, Meg Whitman, chairwoman, president and CEO of Hewlett-Packard Co. and others on Twitter.
Usually, people pour water on their heads because they’re too cheap/broke to donate, but Barra donated to ALS and a nonprofit organization called Charity Water regardless. Before the ice water was dumped, Barra challenged NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon, billionaire businessman Dan Gilbert and Phebe Novakovic, CEO of aerospace and defense company General Dynamics.
Comments
As one of the most powerful women in the U.S., and a fellow engineer, I salute Mary and congratulate her for the donation and for taking the challange! Business women who have less authority or money would not do this, or even let their hair get wet!
Good for her. I still say the girls got spunk.
She’s absolutely the biggest idiot ever! If the dumped her off the Sears Tower then I would be happy!! F$&? GM!!
So she’s beaten you in a game of tic tac toe. Big deal. Can’t you get over it?
I’m so tired of this “social attention whoring in the name of a great cause” B.S.
ALS is not even a blip on the radar of serious diseases or social issues attacking this country, nor is your jumping on FB, Youtube, or whatever gonna do jack sh#t to inspire most people to do a darn thing about ALS. If any of these people really cared or actually had any sense of perspective they would already be hard at work on far more dangerous and prevalent diseases, never mind the many social blights marring this country and the world.
When I see stuff like this and all the back patting and “likes” that go along with it; All I can think is “first world problems” while shaking my head.