This mannequin challenge is probably the most important one yet
LONDON -- The mannequin challenge has been dominating our social feeds for what feels like an eternity.
While some people are using the excuse of a new viral challenge to show off their skills, one organisation is using the challenge to raise awareness about a condition that can cause people to become locked inside their own bodies.
Creatives Jordan Morris and Danny Jones teamed up with motor neurone disease charity MND Association to create the thought-provoking video. Through the video, they hope to raise awareness and money to help find a cure for the disease.
This isn't the first time a viral social media challenge has been used to raise awareness of motor neurone disease (MND). 2014's ice bucket challenge saw people around the world pour freezing buckets of water over their heads in an effort to raise money and awareness the disease.
MND (also known as ALS) is a rare condition that damages parts of the nervous system and leads to muscle weakness. According to the NHS, the disease happens when "specialist nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord called motor neurones stop working properly."
As the disease progresses, things like gripping, swallowing, breathing, speaking and walking become increasingly difficult, and they can eventually become impossible.
"Can you imagine being stuck like this forever?" reads a message in the video.
"With motor neurone disease, you become a prisoner within your own body," the video continues.
The organisation is raising money for motor neurone disease via Just Giving.
Topics Health
Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.