This spring, social media is once again full of people dumping buckets of water on their heads. The famed Ice Bucket Challenge has returned — and while it may look the same as it did at the height of its popularity in 2014, there’s a new reason people are engaging in this chilly challenge.
For those who don’t remember the ultra-viral charitable challenge from more than a decade ago, here’s how the Ice Bucket Challenge works: you grab a bucket, fill it with ice water and have someone film you soak yourself, before nominating another person to participate. The initial point of the Ice Bucket Challenge was to have people choose between getting soaked in freezing cold water, or donating to charity instead — but as the challenge went viral, many people who did donate also happily doused themselves for a good cause.
So why are people doing this again? Here’s what to know.
How the Ice Bucket Challenge began
The Ice Bucket Challenge was initially started by professional golfers in order to raise money for pet charities, according to the Wall Street Journal — but few people know about that particular history.
That’s because, by the time the challenge really took off in the summer of 2014, it had become associated with ALS research. That is thanks to Pete Frates, a former college baseball player who had been diagnosed with the progressive neurodegenerative disease in 2012. Frates, his family and their network used the challenge to draw attention to ALS and transform it into a powerful fundraising campaign. Ultimately, the Ice Bucket Challenge raised more than $115 million in ALS research and inspired tons of celebrities — from Justin Bieber to Oprah — to soak themselves on camera, before nominating the next famous friend. All in all, more than 17 million people participated.
Why people are doing the Ice Bucket Challenge again
The Ice Bucket Challenge celebrated its 10th anniversary last year in the name of ALS research, but it is now back for a separate cause — one that has to do with mental health.
A University of South Carolina student-run organization called MIND, which stands for Mental Illness Needs Discussion, launched the “Speak Your Mind Ice Bucket Challenge” at the end of March, and now, videos of people participating in it are going viral. Participants are encouraged to donate to Active Minds, a nonprofit that works to change mental health norms among youth and young adults.
In a statement posted on Active Mind’s website, Wade Jefferson, a sophomore at USC and founder of the MIND club, said the enthusiasm around the ALS-challenge inspired campaign has been “surreal.”
“We’re proud, grateful and just excited to see how far it’s gone and [will] continue to go.”
While the virality of this challenge has not yet launched into the stratosphere like the ALS-focused Ice Bucket Challenge did in 2014, it’s currently circulating on social media, with influencers like James Charles and Haley Kalil participating.
Jefferson wrote in his statement that former NFL star Peyton Manning posted a video of himself participating, however that video doesn’t appear to be available online.
What the internet thinks of the new Ice Bucket Challenge
Many people on social media are saying that the return of the decade-old challenge is making them feel old — but like Y2K fashion, digital cameras and the photo dump, it’s just one more example of the ways Gen Z is rebranding and romanticizing millennial content.
Still, some aren’t thrilled about how the new Ice Bucket Challenge has removed its association with ALS, which, despite steps forward in research, does not yet have a cure or promising treatment. As TikToker Chrissy said in a video, “As someone with a family member currently living with ALS, I don’t know, this just doesn’t rub me the right way.”
And TikToker Lily wrote on her own video that the new version of the challenge isn’t “getting any point across” because of the large awareness around mental health issues. “We should bring back the ALS ice bucket challenge, a condition that many don’t know the true extent of and how it slowly deteriorates people,” she said. “My grandpa fought that battle for years and slowly got worse and worse. He didn’t make it, as ALS is a death sentence.”
Others worry the challenge will be more about going viral than spreading mental health awareness. One person wrote on TikTok, “Call me boring, but its [sic] really just turned into another ‘trend’ and half the people doing it don’t know the meaning behind it at all,” while another TikToker wrote, “Is it just me or does this new ice bucket challenge feel extremely performative. Like are ppl actually donating to mental health in addition to posting ???”
The ALS Association is praising MIND’s efforts, however. In a statement on their website, the organization said that they are “thrilled” that the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge lives on in “new forms of activism.”
“We applaud efforts to raise awareness for causes like mental health — an issue that also affects the ALS community in profound ways,” the ALS Association wrote. “People living with ALS, their caregivers, and loved ones often face depression, anxiety, grief, and isolation as they navigate a fatal disease that changes every aspect of life. We also honor Pat Quinn, Pete Frates, Anthony Senerchia, and the millions of people who made the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge such a powerful movement. Their spirit of collective action continues to inspire us as we work to make ALS livable and cure it.”
