CHICAGO, June 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Muscular Dystrophy Association today announced the launch of a multifaceted digital awareness and fundraising campaign to kick off its new "Live Unlimited" movement. The six-week campaign will include unique #LiveUnlimited stories, an online celebration of music with performances on Facebook Live and a 24-hour online gaming event. It will use the social megaphones of support from MDA families, celebrities, artists and digital influencers to inspire Americans to share their personal #LiveUnlimited moments.
From skydiving to graduating, those living with muscular dystrophy and their families are defying limits every day and proving that we all can Live Unlimited.
MDA Live Unlimited campaign kicks off today with a 12-hour celebration of music
The idea behind "Live Unlimited" is inspired by the strength, courage and can-do spirit of individuals and families who are doing remarkable things every day to show the world that the physical and societal limits diseases like muscular dystrophy and ALS bring will never define them.
"MDA's Live Unlimited campaign speaks to a fundamental human truth: no matter who you are, where you live or what you care about, we all want to live without limits — those we sometimes place on ourselves and those defined by others. We all want to live our lives to the fullest," said MDA President and CEO Steven M. Derks. "Our campaign aims to spark a national conversation as well as active engagement that shifts the focus away from 'what we can't do to what we can do.' We want to share the power of possibilities and positivity that our MDA families exhibit every day, inspire Americans to shed their limits, share their stories and, in turn, shine light on the urgency and action needed to help more kids and adults with muscular dystrophy, ALS and related muscle-debilitating diseases live unlimited."
MDA's "Live Unlimited" campaign kicks off today with a 12-hour celebration of music. In partnership with popular millennial media brand What's Trending, from sunrise to sunset, artists, including X Ambassadors, Billy Ray Cyrus, JoJo, American Authors, Magic!, Steve Aoki, Megan Nicole, Lauren Alaina and many more boasting millions of social followers, will livestream special "Live Unlimited" performances on their own Facebook pages. Also starting Monday and continuing throughout the campaign, celebrities, artists, athletes and digital influencers — including Carly Rae Jepsen, Ernie Johnson, Mario Lopez, Nancy O'Dell, Olympians Shannon Miller, Nadia Comaneci and Bart Conner — and MDA's network of families and friends will also share how they #LiveUnlimited in their own words.
The "Live Unlimited" campaign will continue through July 31, during which MDA will feature 12 personal stories of individuals showing how they live life with muscular dystrophy beyond their limits. To bring the essence of the "Live Unlimited" campaign to life, MDA has created an inspiring video featuring some of the stories of these individuals. https://liveunlimited.mda.org/#home-video
To underscore the timely relevance of the campaign, MDA has released the findings of a recent survey* that asked Americans, who had previously defied their limitations, about their own experience. Most notably, the survey revealed that among those who have faced limitations, 77% of people with a connection to a muscle-debilitating disease have overcome their personal limitations — a sentiment that also resonates strongly among a millennial audience, as 78% of those who have faced limitations believe they've lived beyond their limits. Additional survey findings include:
A majority of survey respondents (57%) say they have faced a limitation that has made it very difficult or impossible to do something they wanted to do.
The most common limitation cited was financial (58%) among those who said they have faced limitations, followed by lack of self-confidence (38%), physical limitations (37%) and fear (32%). Fewer said they have faced limitations because of their educational background (24%), professional status (17%) or mental abilities (15%).
When it comes to defying the impossible and overcoming limitations, the vast majority (82%) of those surveyed believe in the power of support and encouragement from friends and family more than they do in new research and technology (70%). Even more (87%) feel that if you have enough drive and willpower, you can overcome almost any limitation.
Two-thirds of consumers (65%) say they have done something they once thought was impossible.
Through the "Live Unlimited" campaign, the Muscular Dystrophy Association wants to inspire Americans nationwide to defy their limitations and support the movement in the following ways:
Share how you #LiveUnlimited on mda.org. Create a unique "Live Unlimited" graphic that can be customized and uploaded to social to show the world that limits don't define you.
Join the 24-hour LIVE online gaming and variety show event on June 24th: in partnership with Geek & Sundry and Smart Girls, MDA will participate in an all-day and night game-athon from June 24—25 on the Geek & Sundry Twitch Channel. Viewers will tune into games and variety acts featuring special guests and talent from both channels. The call-to-action for gamers will be to donate to MDA and donations will be incentivized through games, giveaways, special shout-outs and much more.
Purchase a special-edition "Live Unlimited" bracelet at www.endorphinwarrior.com/live-unlimited . A portion of the proceeds from each bracelet sold will go directly to MDA.
Musical.ly, the video social network for creating, sharing and discovering short music videos will do a #LiveUnlimited launch day takeover and will be featuring select videos that include the hashtag.
From June 20 through July 31, a generous sponsor will donate $1 for every #LiveUnlimited moment shared at mda.org/LiveUnlimited.
"MDA's Live Unlimited campaign shares the 'can do' spirit that National Seating & Mobility has embraced since its founding in 1992," said President and CEO of National Seating & Mobility Bill Mixon. "Providing independence and mobility for disabled Americans is NSM's mission and we're proud to partner with MDA. We know the footprint and impact that we expect from MDA's Live Unlimited campaign will inspire the thousands of clients that NSM serves. We're excited and look forward to serving MDA families across the country."
About the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) MDA is leading the fight to free individuals — and the families who love them — from the harm of muscular dystrophy, ALS and related muscle-debilitating diseases that take away physical strength, independence and life. We use our collective strength to help kids and adults live longer and grow stronger by finding research breakthroughs across diseases; caring for individuals from day one; and empowering families with services and support in hometowns across America. Learn how you can fund cures, find care and champion the cause at mda.org.
*Survey Methodology: The Omnibus Survey was designed by Edge Research in partnership with MDA and fielded by OMNIWEB using the KnowledgePanel ™, a national online omnibus service of GfK Custom Research North America. The KnowledgePanel™ is the only commercially available online probability panel in the marketplace; making the sample truly projectable to the US population.
The sample for each wave's KP OMNIWEB consists of 1,000 completed interviews, made up of male and female adults (in approximately equal number), all 18 years of age and over. All completed interviews are weighted to ensure accurate and reliable representation of the total population, 18 years and older. The survey was fielded April 29-May 1.
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