ALS Ice Bucket Challenge (2014)

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge became the first truly viral social media fundraising campaign, raising $115 million for ALS research in eight weeks in summer 2014 — compared to $2.8 million raised in the same period in 2013. Over 17 million people participated globally, including Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, and President Obama. The research funding it generated directly contributed to the discovery of the NEK1 gene's role in ALS, demonstrating that viral marketing could accelerate science.