Mark McIntyre is trying to make a difference in the lives of those affected by cancer. By hanging out in his apartment for 25 days in his underwear.
On Oct. 6, Mark and Stanfield’s, a Canadian men’s underwear company, launched a fund raising campaign using popular Internet tools: webcams and social media. Mark will spend a total of 25 days in his downtown Toronto apartment in his underwear – he reveals a unique pair of undies every day – while four web cameras broadcast his every move to the world wide web.
For every "like" Mark and the campaign receives from Facebook users over the next 25 days, Stanfield’s will donate $1 to testicular cancer research. The original goal for the campaign was $25,000, but Stanfield’s recently announced they will donate up to $50,000 if Mark can get 50,000 "likes" on Facebook. The Facebook page had 42,623 "likes" by Oct. 21, the sixteenth day of the campaign. Mark recently spoke with PostCity.com from his apartment.
What has surprised you the most so far during this undertaking?
"It’s very bizarre not to go outside, so I’m starting to feel that a little bit. But the same time, because of all the likes on Facebook and the people showing up in chat, I’m surrounded by people all over the world that are reaching out to me and supporting me and what I do…But I’m sort of here by myself. It kind of messes with your mind a little bit."
What was your favourite pair of underwear so far?
"I’m a boxer-brief guy…whatever underwear I bought, it was boxer-briefs. But the briefs really appealed to me, because it keeps everything tucked in. The smaller ones I kind of liked better, which was interesting."
Have you received any surprising feedback from viewers?
"I’ve been told quite a few times that people have burned their dinner while watching me cook their dinner…I think that’s really cool, that whatever we’re doing with this initiative, that people are getting a kick out of watching what I’m making for dinner. They’ve gotten to know me to a point that they want to know what Mark’s having for dinner."
Is there any upcoming day in particular that you’re excited about?
"I don’t know exactly how this works, but they have a blind date coming in for me. Having a date on camera in your underwear is certainly something I’ve never done. So, that will be a challenge. No one really has told me how this is going about. The only comment about the blind date that I’ve heard from people who are finding someone for me is that ‘we’re trying to find someone who would actually like you.’ Which, is like, oh, thank you very much – as if that was so hard. (laughing)"