School of Communication students James Lucking and Will Wright have ‘hacked’ the recent explosion of the #neknomination phenomenon with a clever twist on the idea – Donate & Nominate.
The guys have formed a campaign that urges people to donate a pint of blood instead of downing pints. Launched last week, it grew to a level where the NHS Give Blood communication centre contacted them to alter the message slightly.
According to The Drum: ‘an abundance of young people showing up stating that they have to donate blood within 24 hours and centres have had to turn them away due to not having booked appointments or being registered.’
Participants are further encouraged to share pictures and videos of the blood donation, alongside sharing the message with their friends on social media.
The idea of NekNominate is currently sweeping social media, with some devastating effects – causing several deaths already and for those of you who don’t know what NekNominate is:
Neknominate originally started as a drinking competition between Chelsea fans in the Black Bull Pub in Chelsea in 2008. It is often portrayed as having begun in Australia.[5] Whilst it is true that the social media aspects of the game evolved in Australia, the main principles, mainly the drinking and nominating someone to drink in an absurd manner whilst being recorded, were developed in the UK.
Drinking culture can be idiotic at times and this NekNominate is exactly that. It’s great to see a twist on idea and the quick formation of a campaign around, stellar work!
Keep up to date, by heading over to the Donate & Nominate Facebook page.
I’m a UX Consultant in London – get in touch about your next big idea.