About
#FeelingNuts, also known as the Feeling Nuts Challenge, is a hashtag campaign and photo fad aimed at encouraging men to get checked for testicular cancer on a regular basis. While the hashtag was officially launched in April 2014 to promote the Testicular Cancer Awareness Month, the campaign saw a notable resurgence in early October as a spin-off of the Ice Bucket Challenge, which also coincided with the beginning of the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Origin
On April 10th, 2014, the UK-based testicular cancer prevention and support group Check One Two[3] launched the hashtag #FeelingNuts to promote the Testicular Cancer Awareness Month and encourage men to regularly check themselves for testicular cancer.[1]
Spread
On June 12th, 2014, the Check One Two YouTube channel uploaded a video titled “Are You #FeelingNuts”, urging viewers to share pictures of themselves grabbing their genitals with the hashtag #FeelingNuts to raise awareness about testicular cancer (shown below).
On August 28th, actor Will Arnett tweeted[10] a photograph of himself holding his crotch, which gained over 1,000 favorites and 230 retweets in the next month.
On October 1st, actor Hugh Jackman tweeted[2] a photo of himself and three other men clutching their genitals, while publicly challenging actor Neil Patrick Harris, talk show host Michael Strahan and comedian Ricky Gervais to do the same (shown below, left). That same day, Gervais replied to the tweet[4] with a photograph of himself flipping off the camera while grabbing his crotch and nominated former Star Trek cast member William Shatner to join in (shown below, right). In the first 24 hours, the tweets garnered upwards of 1,900 and 790 retweets respectively.
In the coming days, several news sites published articles about the photo fad, including Time,[5]CNN,[6] Complex,[7] Just Jared[8] and UpRoxx.[9]
Notable Examples
Search Interest
Not available
External References
[1]Facebook – #FeelingNuts
[2]Twitter – @RealHughJackman
[3]CheckOneTwo – #FeelingNuts
[4]Twitter – @rickygervais
[5]Time – #FeelingNuts Viral Challenge Gathers Steam After Hugh Jackman Takes Part
[6]CNN– Feeling Nuts Challenge for men goes viral
[7]Complex – #FeelingNuts Is the New Ice Bucket Challenge
[8]Just Jared – Hugh Jackman Joins #FeelingNuts
[9]UpRoxx – #FeelingNuts Is The Viral Trend That Has Actors Grabbing Their Balls For Testicular Cancer Awareness
[10]Twitter – @arnettwill