The Movember and Sons campaign is publicising men’s health issues.
As the clocks wind back, the piles of leaves grow and the nights lengthen it’s easy to despair.
Gone are the joyous days of summer – winter is here.
The icy northern fingers chill not only bones but also enthusiasm for leaving the general vicinity of bed.
How then to avoid winter woefulness? A riddle, naturally.
What do Hulk Hogan, Salvador Dali and Ron Burgundy all have in common?
Why, their sensational and timeless moustaches of course.
The prospect of a long, cold winter can be upsetting but it also means November, the month some call the sexiest of the year…
November means hordes of men who should never ever sprout crumb-catchers try to emulate the aforementioned moustachioed magnates.
Movember is here and the Movember and Sons campaign is raising funds and awareness for men’s health issues.
Chevrons, handlebars, pencils and Fu Manchus are making their yearly appearance and the subtleties of each type of nose-neighbour will be second nature to all come December.
This Movember more businesses are supporting the charity by either encouraging staff to don a lip-warmer or by supporting the ‘Mo Bros’ who do.
In Battersea new booze-brewers-on-the-block The London Distillery Company will be carrying the torch and wearing what Movember organisers call ‘the ribbon of men’s health’ loud and proud.
They are to set aside the inaugural spirits from their stills and fill 109 casks, one for each year since there was last a whiskey distillery in London, and sell them as a limited edition release.
Each cask will have a unique moustache hand-carved or branded into the barrel and if a Mo Bro wants he can even have his own etched onto the barrel by sending a photo.
Founder and CEO Darren Rook said there are a lot of people working for awareness of women’s health issues but men seem to quietly ignore problems and hope they’ll go away.
He stated his young son inspired him to take part as the thought of not being there for him or his wife really struck a chord.
He added: “Movember is a great way of saying hey dad, brother, friend or colleague it’s OK to go to the doctors as these things could kill you!”
All the men at the distillery are taking part.
With 50% of profit going to the charity the distillery is indicative of steps many businesses are taking nation-wide.
Brands including HP Sauce and Byron Hamburgers will also be throwing their mos behind the campaign and offering incentives to staff and customers.
Byron Hamburgers have launched a limited edition burger, the MO Burger, from which 50p per sale will go to the charity.
If that’s not enough Mo Bros and Mo Sistas who’ve raised at least £25 will get a free hamburger, chicken burger, veggie burger or main course salad to beef up their moustache each day from November 7-20 between 3pm and 6pm.
Byron founder Tom Byng said: “Over the past two years we’ve raised more than £60,000 for Movember and given away over 15,000 free hamburgers as a thankyou to Mo Bros and Sistas.”
Byng will be growing a ‘tache to show his support.
Dai Reed, supervisor at King’s Road Byron, said he’d be taking part too and was hoping to grow an ‘extended hit man’ (no, I have no idea either).
He said he hoped to see his male colleagues taking part and that even the girls will get involved by wearing different styles of faux-mo’ during shifts.
“It raises the ethos in a professional manner,” he added.
“Movember is a great move from a team point of view, where it gives a good feeling coming to work and seeing everyone come together working for a good cause.”
Even The Royal Mail will put a moustache postmark on all postmarked letters for a month from October 15.
Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the moustaches we’ll see over the next month do a highly visible job of raising the sometimes delicate issue of men’s health.
No doubt there will be more than a few horror-show efforts around but they say there’s no such thing as bad publicity.
During November don’t forget what they say over at Movember and Sons: Knowledge is power, moustache is king.
Movember, founded in Australia in 2003, raises funds and awareness for men’s health issues, specifically prostate cancer and testicular cancer.
Last year more than 854,000 Mo Bros took part around the world raising £79.3million.
More than 10,000 men will die from prostate cancer this year in the UK.
Potential moustache merchants visit www.movember.com
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