In the summer of 2014, some small-town ice buckets turned into one of the biggest movements to EVER occur on the internet. What became known as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge sparked a global media phenomenon and unprecedented frenzy of attention, inspiring more people from around the world to take action than ever seen before on social media.

From every corner of the globe, people of all ages and backgrounds gave ALS the attention it deserves and together created over 17 million videos, raised $220 million and generated more PR for the cause in three months than most brands will ever see in a lifetime. August will now be known as ALS Ice Bucket Challenge month for years to come.

ALS needed awareness and funding to fuel research and patient care. Patients Pete Frates, Pat Quinn, Anthony Senerchia and their families believed this and they challenged themselves to combat this degenerative and silent disease with something light, fun and easy. And to leverage the power of the social graph to make it spread like wildfire. ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was born.

17 million videos were created, 159 countries participated, 70 billion video views were counted and $220 million was raised. More people participated than the Super Bowl and Oscars, combined. More money was raised each day than the annual budget of the ALS Association in New York. And hope for a better future for ALS was created.

This is the ultimate case study in virality, as over 440 million people viewed the videos with no media spend whatsoever. The user-generated videos were fun and engaging, and they spread from one to many through the power of Facebook’s social graph and friend tagging feature. Likes, shares, hashtags and other trending tools also surfaced the videos and, before long, people’s feeds exploded with ALS Ice Bucket Challenge content.

The campaign rolled out slowly but strategically. The challenge dared folks to dump a bucket of ice water over their heads, post a video of it on Facebook, tag friends to do the same and donate money to ALS.

First, close family and friends were challenged. Then it spread to adjacent communities. Then new cities. Then new countries. Then athletes and celebrities. Will Smith. Bill Gates. Oprah. Mark Zuckerberg. The original crew worked day and night to fan the flames and it soon became the biggest and most exciting social movement to ever exist.

The ALS world had been quiet for a while - patients were nervous about speaking up and in summer 2014, there weren’t any Oscar-winning blockbusters about it. Lou Gehrig’s disease, a man who exists in B&W photographs, just wasn’t top of mind. Something had to be done.

This was a movement for ALS patients, their families and their supporters. For most people, ALS was off their radar. They needed to be engaged for the first time. Not with facts or hardship, but with something they could easily relate to and make their own. The user-generated videos were fun and engaging, and they spread from one to many through the power of Facebook’s social graph and friend tagging feature.