Grow a mustache and you can help find a cure for prostate cancer. Seems odd? Impractical? Ludicrous? That’s the feedback that Adam Garone got when he decided to launch in 2004 the Movember charity, which encouraged men to “groom, trim and wax their way into the annals of fine mustachery” and raise money from sponsorships. Fast-forward seven years, and Movember, which started in Australia, has raised more than $178-million. It has become so popular in Canada that Mr. Garone expects the country will actually overtake Australia’s fundraising and take the lead globally. The Globe and Mail spoke with Mr. Garone, who was in town on Friday for the TedxToronto, a conference modelled on the popular Ted Talks, a series of lectures on ideas that started in California.
How did you come up with the idea for the mustache charity?
The idea started as most ideas do in Australia. I was sitting around on a Sunday afternoon with some mates and my brother, drinking some beer, when the conversation turned to ‘70s fashion. We were talking about how almost everything in the ‘70s had come back into fashion except for the mustache. So we decided to grow a ‘mo’ – Australian slang for the mustache – and it got a lot of reaction. My girlfriend at the time definitely did not like it, but it got people talking. However, it felt empty, and I thought we needed some kind of way to legitimize our mustache growing. So we did some research and found that prostate cancer was like breast cancer for men. We started raising money for Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and from there it has grown.
How does it work?
We ask our Mo Bros to register clean-shaven on Nov. 1, and for the next 30 days, they become effectively walking talking celebrity billboards for our campaigns. It’s a great way to get the conversation started – why on earth do you have that mustache, what were you thinking, why is your mustache ginger when the rest of your hair isn’t ... that eventually leads to people having discussions about men’s health and prostate cancer. There is a lot of stigma around talking about men’s health, while women are way ahead of us. Initially, even women didn’t want to talk about breast cancer until the pink ribbon came along. So we need a ribbon of our own: We have the hairy ribbon. And at the end of the month, we have a party where we decide who has the best mustache and who needs to be in the hall of shame. It’s all good fun. The money goes towards research and raising awareness. For example, we’ve funded programs that are mapping the genes that lead to prostate cancer.
Movember started off in Melbourne. Why did you decide to come to Canada next?
We were asked to. There are a lot of Canadians who live in Australia and obviously heard about this, and many Australians who live in Canada as well. We would get e-mails saying, “You have got to get this started here,” and: “We love growing mustaches in Canada.” We came here in 2007, and partnered with Prostate Cancer Canada. We had really grand ideas – that we would get 10,000 people involved and raise lots of money. That didn’t happen, and it taught me that we need to be patient and persistent. We kept at it, and last Movember, 119,000 Canadians raised $22.3-million. That’s just behind the Australia Movember, where we raised $24-million. So Canada is literally sitting in the number two spot, and my feeling is, this year is going to be neck to neck. I think Canada will beat Australia. But at the end of the day, what we’re looking for is not a Canadian cure or an Australian cure; we’re looking for a cure for prostate cancer.
What’s your favourite kind of mustache?
The one I have on right now – sort of an ’80s porn star mustache.
Where are the mustache growing hot spots in Canada?
Toronto is definitely the biggest in our campaigns. But really all across the country – Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Victoria, Vancouver ...
Any tips for growing a mo?
It’s like a piece of art. First you need a blank canvas, so get clean-shaven. Then you need to let it grow out for a week or so. In the second week, it’s time to start sculpting it to a shape. But you better know what you want, because after that point, you are committed to a certain style. There is no going back.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
