MOSCOW, August 28 (RIA Novosti) - A campaign to raise money for research into the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) motor neuron disease and increase its public awareness is spreading through the world of politics and film with American director David Lynch having nominated Russian President Vladimir Putin for the Ice Bucket Challenge.
“I would like to nominate for the Ice Bucket Challenge Vladimir Putin. Thank you very much,” Lynch, known for directing the Twin Peaks television series, said after getting drenched in ice water mixed with a double shot of espresso while playing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” on the trumpet in a video posted on YouTube.
The Ice Bucket Challenge requires that its participants make a video of themselves pouring ice water over their heads within 24 hours of their nomination or donate at least $100 to an ALS charity of their choice. Most celebrities participating in the challenge have used creative ways to do both. Each participant can nominate up to three people for the challenge.
Lynch is not the first person to nominate Putin. Actor Vin Diesel and comedian Seth Meyers have also challenged the Russian president. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Putin is unlikely to respond to the challenge.
US President Barack Obama has also been nominated by a number of celebrities, including Justin Bieber, as well as Ethel Kennedy, the widow of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy. Obama did not accept the challenge, but promised to make a donation.
“The president appreciates Mrs. Kennedy thinking of him for the challenge – though his contribution to this effort will be monetary. The president will be making a donation to an ALS charity,” White House spokesman Eric Schultz told The Boston Globe earlier this month.
Meanwhile former US President George W Bush has completed the challenge after being nominated by several people including his daughter Jenna Bush Hager.
“I do not think it’s presidential for me to be splashed with ice water,” George Bush said in a YouTube video moments before his wife dumped a bucket of freezing water over his head.
Bush then nominated his predecessor Bill Clinton for the challenge. “My gift to Bill is a bucket of cold water,” the former US president said.
More than 1.5 million videos pertaining to the Ice Bucket Challenge were shared on Facebook between June 1 and August 13 and the ALS awareness campaign was mentioned more than 2.5 million times on Twitter since July 29, according to The New York Times.
The campaign has snowballed in recent weeks, with stars including Tom Cruise, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lady Gaga and Lindsay Lohan all taking part.
Hollywood actress Helena Bonham Carter was doused with freezing water by her husband Tim Burton and then proceeded to nominate the American film director to complete the charity stunt.
Sir Patrick Stewart simply signed a donation check for the American ALS Association before adding ice to a glass of whiskey and taking a sip from it.
Other big names to have stepped up to the challenge include Oprah Winfrey, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates.
The ALS campaign has also reached Wall Street, with several prominent bank executives taking up the Ice Bucket Challenge, including Sergio P. Ermotti, group chief executive of Swiss bank UBS and Wells Fargo’s CEO John Stumpf. Marianne Lake, the chief financial officer of JPMorgan Chase did the challenge together with a number of the bank’s employees outside its headquarters in New York.
The charity drive has also ventured beyond reality and into the fictional world. “The Simpsons” television cartoon series posted a video of its main character Homer throwing a cup of ice water over his head, before his son Bart drops penguins, hockey players, Santa Claus and a yeti on him from a helicopter.
In a similar real world development, Belgian photographer Bruno Brokken was taken to the hospital in Spain after being knocked to the ground unconscious when 400 gallons of water was dropped on him from a firefighting plane in a daring attempt at completing the challenge.
ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, affects the brain and the spinal cord, causing nerve cells to degenerate and die, which leads to gradual paralysis and eventually death. There is currently no cure for ALS.
With the exception of some cases like that of English physicist Stephen Hawking, most people who are diagnosed with ALS live only another two to five years.
The goal of ALS charity groups is to raise money for research and patient services while at the same time raising awareness of the rare disease.
As of Wednesday, August 27, the ALS Association received $94.3 million in donations compared to $2.7 million from the same period of July 29 to August 27 last year, according to its website. Donations came from existing donors and 2.1 million new donors.
The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has become an inspiration for other campaigns.
The Rubble Bucket Challenge has become an online hit in Gaza with people tipping buckets of sand or rubble over their heads in support of Gaza residents affected by Israeli air strikes.
In India, the Rice Bucket Challenge is gaining momentum, with participants being encouraged to donate a bucket or bowl of rice to someone in need.
A similar campaign, called Fill The Bucket, has been launched in Nepal.
