Hi there. This week I was going to give you advice on growing and shaping your budding moustache. However, I've noticed that this year there seems to be an overload of this information out there so have changed my mind.
I shall instead share with you my ponderings on the nature of charity events and fund raising, and why there has been such an explosion of interest in Movember this year.
Doing what I do for a living with The Wet Shaving Company I have been involved with Movember events for several years and have watched it grow steadily year on year. But this year there has been a great leap forward in peoples awareness of (and participation in) Movember in general and it's health agenda in particular. What is it about Movember that has grabbed men's attention so much?
I think that Movember appeals to men on many levels.
If you look at awareness campaigns and fund raising campaigns for many women's cancer charities there is usually some exertion involved - Moonwalk, Pink Ribbon Walk, Step Out, or the even more energetic Race For Life. Contrast this with Movember. What does a man have to do to take part? Absolutely nothing! No training, participation or exertion. Just sit back and let that top lip run riot! So, laziness plays a part in the attraction of Movember, but what else?
Well, most men secretly want to grow a moustache. As much as we may deny it there is a definite attraction in adorning our faces with an expressive, character defining moustache. While beards have retained a certain roguish charm (and some fine moustaches are grown hidden amongst the rest of the beard) moustaches on their own have remained resolutely anti-fashion. Perhaps memories of seventies and eighties excesses are still too fresh in our minds. But give men the cover of growing one enmasse, and for charity, and they'll jump at it.
There is also (as in most things masculine) a competitive edge to it. It's as if the number of hair follicles on your top lip equates to your virility and the size of your cojones! Thankfully this isn't the chest beating display it could be and is very good natured. At least, I've never heard of anyone getting ostracised for having a downy little top lip.
As well as this competitive edge there is also the attraction of it being a men only event. Everything these days has to be shared equally between the sexes, but Movember is unashamedly masculine, with the ladies relegated to the supporting role of Mo-Sisters. Bad news guys, check out my friend Nina, growing a fine handlebar on her undercut to rival her husbands. Nothing is safe these days!
So, as you can see, men are every bit as willing to raise money for charity providing they don't have to lift a finger to do it and are doing something they wanted to do anyway!
Just a quick bit about fundraising. It doesn't have to be confined to your sponsorship forms. Last year I met six guys up in Manchester who were preparing to celebrate the fact that their moustaches had attained 80's porn star proportions by hitting the town dressed in nothing but baggy pants, tool belts and hard hats (oh, and collection buckets). Anyone top this?