Ice Bucket Challenge Popularity Leads To Merchandise Sales
BOSTON (CBS) – With worldwide participation in the Ice Bucket Challenge, some businesses are attempting to capitalize by creating merchandise based on the social media fundraising campaign.
The Ice Bucket Challenge has gained steam throughout the summer, with the ALS Association announcing Friday that the movement has led to $53.3 million in donations from 1.1 million new donors between July 29 and August 21.
Former Boston College baseball player Pete Frates helped jumpstart the initiative, which Facebook statistics showed began to spread from the Boston area.
Multiple websites are now selling merchandise, such as T-shirts that read "I survived the Ice Bucket Challenge," and others that businesses say are meant to keep raising awareness for ALS. One website offers pins boasting "I did the Ice Bucket Challenge" on top of a logo of a person holding a bucket over their head.
Another company is currently selling an Ice Bucket Challenge Halloween costume, which consists of a bucket with faux water and ice cubes along with a plastic ice cube tray. There is no indication if any portion of proceeds will go to charity, though there is a link to the ALS Association website on the costume's listing.
Many of the websites selling Ice Bucket Challenge merchandise mention that a percentage of sales will be donated to ALS research, while it is unclear if that is the case on other sites.
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