Tomorrow is the first day of Movember, a charity event started in Australia that gets men to grow mustaches (and ‘stache supporters to sponsor their efforts) in order to raise money for prostate cancer research. In years past, Mo Bro participation from the Aussie branches of Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers has been huge, and nearly 25% of funds generated since the organization was started four years ago have come from finance professionals. With Thursday marking the first time the contest is being held in the U.S., you would think that top banks would be gung-ho about their employees growing hair, just to prove themselves better than one another in a category other than record losses, but, apparently, not so much. We placed some calls today to find out which firms will officially be sporting wool and let’s just say that you should all be performing regular self-exams for early detection, because a cure is not around the corner. When asked if their CEOs would be setting good examples for their minions by growing moustaches this month (and, obviously, contractually obligating the plebes to do so, as well), Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Citigroup all said no, and Goldman Sachs said it’d get back to us but hasn’t (which is probably a no and besides the point: Blankfein promised himself he’d never go back to his hobo days a long time ago). A spokeswoman for Merrill Lynch told us that, like all the other pro-cancer banks in New York, hers would not be asking employees to take part in the event, and reminded us that, at the present time, MER has no CEO on which to grow a ‘stache. When we casually wondered aloud whether or not the last guy to run the company would’ve seen the same fate had he worn some fur, she responded, “maybe not.” And honestly? Girl didn’t sound like she was kidding.
Do you have the ability to grow facial hair and the balls to say corporate culture be damned, I am not down with this life-threatening disease? Send photographic updates on your progress here.
Growing Facial Hair for Charity [WSJ]
Posted by , Oct 31, 2007 2:16PM
u love jsc
Posted by Master of None , Oct 31, 2007 2:21PM
I hear there's a grassroots movement among FIC traders to make this the contest of the month at GS
Beats hot dog eating contests
Posted by Master of None , Oct 31, 2007 2:21PM
I hear there's a grassroots movement among FIC traders to make this the contest of the month at GS
Beats hot dog eating contests
Posted by girl , Oct 31, 2007 2:38PM
I love this! sent it to my guy friends this morning, I'm hoping in 2 wks time they'll all be looking like tom selleck. I'll perform my own company match if they don too-tight tennis whites and aviators to boot.
Posted by sac up , Oct 31, 2007 3:04PM
I would totally be into this if the female hormones I'm taking weren't preventing it. Count me in if everyone decides to grow man boobs instead.
Posted by Tommy Jones , Oct 31, 2007 4:42PM
What a really stupid way to raise money for charity!
Posted by lancey , Oct 31, 2007 4:49PM
oh right! and wearing a fucking ribbon like a sheep painted for slaughter is a great way to cure cancer.
if chicks were cool they would be topless and pierce their nipples for breast cancer.
Posted by Adam , Nov 01, 2007 1:00PM
a really stupid way to raise money?????.......last year in Australia and New Zealand the campaigned raised $8.5 million. Prior to Movember the most the prostate cancer foundations had ever raised in those countries in a year was $600,000.
Tell the 27,000 American men and their families that die from prostate cancer its stupid idea.