[A Boston crowd takes part in the Ice Bucket Challenge.
Photo courtesy of Forbes.com]

You’d be hard-pressed to find another Internet awareness campaign as cleverly designed and effective as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge that swept the world this summer.

If you somehow managed to miss it, people were challenged on video to donate to research battling ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease), and if they didn’t do so within 24 hours of being challenged, they had to donate AND dump a bucket of ice water over their heads on video to spread awareness of the disease and the campaign.

[Note: Specific dollar amounts and whether or not the ice bucket was involved in each challenge varies, depending on who tagged who. I’ve read conflicting reports, so I’ve tried to encapsulate (to the best of my ability) most of the videos I’ve seen.]

This charity drive took the Internet and the world by storm. Fire departments, casts of television shows, athletes, comedians, YouTubers, business magnates, and actors joined thousands of others in spreading the word about ALS. Everyone from Bill Gates and Stephen Hawking to George W. Bush and Donald Trump posted videos.

Everyone seems to have favorite ALS Ice Bucket Challenge videos, whether it’s Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch’s video, Isaiah Mustafa’s video with Old Spice commercial silliness, or Taylor Swift’s fan-fueled group video. But, as you might expect, my personal favorite Ice Bucket Challenge video has a puzzly twist.

YouTuber Amanda McKenna (of Amanda’s Chronicles) executed a Rube Goldberg-inspired Ice Bucket challenge with Doctor Who flavor and terrific results. Check it out:

To donate to ALS research, click here. And if there are any great Ice Bucket Challenge videos I missed, please let me know!

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