Movember

How Did This Become a Thing?

By the Valet. Staff | November 3, 2014

It started, like most bold moves, with a dare over beers. Back in 2003, Travis Garone and Luke Slattery were kicking back a few in a Melbourne bar when their conversation turned to the cyclical nature of fashion trends. They questioned where the mustache had gone and joked about bringing it back. They challenged each other to see who could grow the better 'stache. Travis's brother Adam got in on the action and they each convinced a few friends to grow one as well. Ground rules were set: start clean shaven and then grow a "mo"—Australian slang for mustache—for the 30 days of November. "This was before the ironic hipster mustache movement, so it created a lot of controversy," says Adam Garone of those early Movember mustaches. "My girlfriend at the time really hated it and my boss wouldn't let me go see clients." But the rebellious freedom was so satisfying that the guys looked for a reason to do it again. Inspired by the way women had joined forces to fight breast cancer, they decided to dedicate their hirsute adventure to furthering men's health initiatives. "I started to research that topic," says Garone. "And discovered prostate cancer is the male equivalent of breast cancer in terms of the number of men that die from it and are diagnosed with it." Just over a decade later, Movember is now a global phenomenon with men young and old proudly sporting mustaches and documenting every hair's growth, all the while raising awareness and money for a worthy cause. But is this annual whisker orgy really benefiting men's health? How did it grow so large so fast? We dug into the data ...

Like any attention-grabbing phenomenon, Movember's rapid growth has attracted its share of naysayers. Some argue that it's a lazy way to raise money for charity. After all, if you're going to do something sponsored for charity, shouldn't it be for something impressive, like running a marathon and not something you literally do in your sleep? Others worry that the spectacle has meant most men participate just for the fun, without any understanding of the charities involved. But the reality is that the relative ease of growing facial hair combined with the way the campaign has embraced humor and technology has successfully drawn attention to diseases that were woefully under publicized before Movember began in 2003. The more than half a billion dollars raised in just ten years? It's not only helped those affected by the ailments, but it enabled world-class doctors to work together resulting in scientific breakthroughs that have vastly improved cancer treatments. What's more, because these mustaches are such conversation starters, a dialogue has begun as men all over the world feel free to talk about health issues that previous generations have been too proud or afraid to acknowledge. And that might be the most important legacy of this once silly bar bet.