Movember is making its fund “mascot”, the moustache, unignorable in Australia. It has built a giant red moustache into the outback landscape at Mt Gipps Station, about 40 minutes from Broken Hill.
The Big Red Mo is an SOS for men’s health. In Australia, men are dying, on average, four years earlier than women and for largely preventable reasons. And suicide rates are twice as high in regional and remote areas of Australia. Supporting this year’s campaign helps raise awareness and fund Movember’s evidence-backed health prevention programs.
At 180 metres in length, the Mo can really only be seen in its entirety from above, so Movember is calling on the crew of the International Space Station to become its official high-altitude photographers and capture the Big Red Mo from orbit, to get people around the world talking about men’s health. The charity is also asking people to make their own ‘Growmitment’ for men’s health.
The campaign film features Aussie comedian, Luke McGregor, and the “Desert Swimmer”, Brendan Cullen (who swam the English Channe; to raise awareness for men’s mental health), launching a Shavedown on November 1 at the Big Red Mo, that marks the start of Movember to encourage Australians to take part, show their support and start conversations about men’s mental health.
McGregor commented, “Nothing raises awareness quite like something that’s visible from space. My message to the International Space Station is ‘When you’ve got a second, obviously, because you guys do really amazing work up there… if you could please take a photo of it? Because we don’t know anyone with a big enough ladder’.”
Cullen added, “This is a loud prompt to those individuals out there that need to put their hand up and ask for help and if they do that, and I’ve done that myself, what you’ll find is people will surround you and they’ll help you. They’ll help you in a way you never thought was possible. So, find the courage to take the first step… that’s the most important thing to do.”
Movember is encouraging people who see the Big Red Mo in their feed to tag the International Space Station via @iss on Instagram and @Space_Station on X and ask the crew to snap it.
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