Yesterday's Red Nose activities have raised more than £75,107,851 and the donations are still arriving (by mail, by text, via app and electronically). The UK government will match £16 million, adding to the final tally of this 25th annual "do something funny for money" event.Will the 2013 total beat last year's £108,436,227 in contributions?
This fundraising event attracted lots of media coverage, not just BBC but also newspapers (digital and printed) plus thousands of tweets, hundreds of thousands of YouTube views, Facebook posts galore and even Pinterest pins.
So many corporations, retailers and celebrities added to the fun and fundraising. Disney, for the first time, got involved. Wine Relief participants donated a percentage of their sales. Jessie J shaved her head to raise more than £500,000. Simon Cowell got married . . . to himself. Ricky Gervais rejoined The Office for one mini-episode. The list of people and groups getting funny for money goes on and on. Well done!
I had to include a link to one of the many videos of groups doing the Harlem Shake with red noses in place, and a link to a group doing Gangnam Style with red noses. A decade from now, people will wonder what these crazes were all about. For now, until the fads fade, enjoy.
