You would have had to have had no access to the internet for the past 6 months to have avoided seeing at least one attempt at the mannequin challenge. But for those who are ignorant to this cultural phenomenon (and basically the world around them), here's a little explanation I found on wiki:

 "The Mannequin Challenge is a viral Internet video trend where people remain frozen in action like mannequins while a moving camera films them, usually with the song "Black Beatles" by Rae Sremmurd playing in the background."

Now everyone is up to speed,  let's examine Unicef's version of the challenge. Unicef claims it's "the most powerful #MannequinChallenge yet" and they are not wrong.  The video was created to highlight the issue of female genital mutilation and ends with the evil act about to be performed on an innocent young girl.

Unicef's attempt to raise awareness about the female genital mutilation, was well received on social media. Many shared the video and said that it had a powerful message. While I think that this praise is more than justified, my only criticism is its distribution strategy.

Instead of relying on "owned" social channels, Unicef needed to involve the influencers that made this challenge infamous. They also needed to identify the platform that would be used as their main distribution vehicle. Instagram is where this challenge rose to fame and where most people engaged with it, therefore this should have been their main vehicle to push the video.  I am sure someone like "King Bach" would have no has problem with sharing the video - I mean, it would only benefit his public image.

But, that being said all in all this campaign is brilliant. It serves as an excellent example of a brand using culture in an authentic, organic way to share a poignant message. 

I think other brands would do well to take a leaf out of Unicef's book!