Red Nose Day: A Good Laugh for a Good Cause

Red Nose Day (from Comic Relief) has been raising money in the U.K. for nearly 30 years. Now this "get funny for money" fundraiser, beloved by U.K. consumers and a major source of charitable donations for fighting poverty and social injustice, is coming to the U.S. for the first time.

It will be nationally broadcast on May 21st as a telethon by NBC, featuring videos from Funny or Die and appearances by a bevy of celebrities. Proceeds will benefit these charities, among others: Boys & Girls Clubs, Feeding America, the Global Fund, Save the Children, and United Way.

Red Nose Day is a perfect fit with social media marketing. The U.S. version is just getting going, with fewer than 3,000 Facebook likes as of today, compared with nearly 700,000 for the UK Red Nose Day Facebook page. The Red Nose Day US Twitter site has nearly 1,000 followers as of today.

Walgreens is the exclusive U.S. retailer of red noses for Red Nose Day, on sale for only $1 each. When I bought my red noses today, I noticed that all Walgreens sales personnel were wearing the official Red Nose t-shirt and asking every customer to donate or participate.

Watch Facebook and Twitter for #RedNose hashtags in the coming weeks!

**UPDATE: The first U.S. Red Nose telethon raised $10 million by the half-way point in the evening. When the telethon ended, more than $21 million had been pledged or received. Well done!