In one of the catchiest promotional videos you will ever see, The Big Bang Theory‘s Jim Parsons (better known as Sheldon Cooper) plays over 30 characters as Zach Selwyn sings a catchy tune about the importance of cancer knowledge and research. The title of the song is “Up2You + Me,” which brings back memories of the great MTV-made tune “U + Me = Us,” so it’s sure to strike the right chord with the age group the song is geared towards.
If you aren’t familiar with Stand Up 2 Cancer, you should definitely visit their website to learn about the great work they’re doing. They are combining all forms of media — web television, videos that often feature popular celebrities, a live television broadcast, blogging, traditional print media, and a customizable web portal — to engage users and make sure they have an interesting and informative experience on the site. Their mission is simple: “In the past year, we’ve all come together – from patients to clinicians, from advocates to lawmakers, from children to teenagers to parents and parents of parents – in support of one cause: finding a cure for cancer as fast as possible.”
Not only did the Selwyn brothers and Parsons film the video, they took to the SU2C website and the Huffington Post to blog about the importance of the campaign. In their post on SU2C’s site, the Selwyn’s wrote: “Really is there a better way to underscore the idea it takes everyone to end cancer than to have a catchy jingle and one really good actor run the gamut of crazy characters from ‘creepy hairy guy at the bar’ to ‘plastic surgery lady’ to ‘guys in banana hammocks on vacation?’ We think not. That’s why we made this video: Up2 You + Me.” In his HuffPo piece, Parsons thanks Microsoft and Xbox for allowing the video to be filmed entirely pro bono, and then announces that it will be available on Xbox Live gaming systems beginning Feb. 4 (World Cancer Day) to help get the word out to an audience that might not otherwise be exposed to campaigns like this one.
Parsons ends with the following message, which reinforces the importance of organizations like Stand Up 2 Cancer’s work: “We had a blast coming together for 12 hours filming this video where I play 30 different characters and had 30 different costume changes. I got to keep some of the costumes – which is great because Halloween is taken care of for the next few years. Stand Up To Cancer is an important cause and I was happy to play a part in this campaign – because when it comes to the fight against cancer, really, it’s up to you, it’s up to me, it’s up to all of us…You get my point.”
Screengrab courtesy of YouTube
