TBWA’s Mo’Lest raises cash for Prostate Cancer Research

After a month of no shaving in support of the international movement that aims to raise awareness of prostate cancer, they put their beards up for auction with the tacit understanding that the winning bidders had total control of the shave-off design.

This resulted in some of the most creatively sculpted beards ver seen. From Borat and Hitler style moustaches to polka dot all-over creations. And a cash pile of more than S$10,000 – three times the amount raised last year – was collected for the Singhealth Foundation to go towards furthering Singhealth’s research into prostate cancer.

Held over three weeks in November, the auction drew 201 bids from 184 active participants and the entire agency pitched in with other fund-raising efforts including a bake-off and pie throwing competition.

Eighty five TBWA\ Singapore men were at the mercy of the winning bidders with the highest bid  – a staggering $1,000 – offered for TBWA\ Singapore’s chief operating officer (COO), Alrick Dorett. Following closely behind was Brent Farrell, managing director – digital with a $970 bid and Philip Brett, president of TBWA\ Asia Pacific, South and South-East Asia with $700.

Yesterday, the 85 men took turns in the barber chair to accept their fate. The faint-hearted were given an option to match the bid amount and only wear the design for 24 hours instead of the seven days pledged in the spirit of Mo’ Lest. That escape route raised an additional S$1000

The Mo’Lest website developed specially for the event – molesttbwa.com – received more than 3,000 unique visitors and close to 40,000 page views in the 23 days. The campaign reached out to audiences across 70 different countries including US, China, Finland and India.

“This was an idea that went ‘viral’ in more ways than one,” said Dorett. 

“It was great to see every single person in the agency getting involved and involving their friends and family in making a contribution to the cause,” he added.