Red Undies Week: May 22- 28, 2011

Supporting a charity rocks my world.

Especially if it's fun. And easy. And involves undies.

Charities these days seem to ask an awful lot of you. Grow it, shave it, paint it, put a ribbon on it… But this one asks you to put on some duds. I like it.

Kidney Health Australia is set to launch a fantastic new campaign in order to raise awareness of kidney disease.

A nation-wide epidemic, kidney disease is under-funded and under-exposed with more people suffering from kidney-related illness than breast cancer, prostate cancer and road fatalities.

Red Undies Week is kicking off week commencing May 22 and has some star power behind it: Tyler Atkins (who in fact suffers from a kidney disease), Scott McGregor, Sophie Falkiner, Laura Dundovic, Mike Goldman, Conrad Coleby, Bianca Dye, Jessica Moloney, Nacho Pop even ex-politician Kerry Chikarovski, with celebrity photographer Benn Jae (Lindsay Lohan/M.I.A).

Getting involved in Red Undies Week is really simple. From May 22 - 28, Aussies can get 'cheeky' by:

• Getting into the nearest LOWES store and buying specially marked 'Red Undies' - $5 from every sale will go towards Kidney Health Australia.

• Download the free iPhone App from the website http://www.redundiesweek.org.au/ get in your red knickers and submit your own ‘Red Undies’ photo online. Share your pic with your friends via Facebook, join the Red Undies Week FB group http://www.facebook.com/pages/Red-Undies-Week/129126663810649 or Twitter and be eligible to win some fab prizes – as well as giving your red undies (and kidney health) some decent exposure!

And look out for the fun new TVC – airing during 'kidney week'….


Kidney Health Australia is a non-profit organisation with a mission to advance the public health agenda through awareness, detection, prevention and management of kidney disease in Australia. http://www.kidney.org.au/

Kidney disease claims an astonishing 53 Australian lives a day – surprised? I was.

The woman behind the initiative is Juliet Potter, director of Girl PR. She explains why she got involved:

"As my son Ashley suffers from a degenerative kidney disease, I created Red Undies Week primarily due to the concerning lack of coverage in main-stream media in regards to kidney health.

"From a personal perspective, not even my own family and friends had a clue as to our situation and what exactly was wrong with Ashley, what were the preventions and/or cures. To think kidney disease is an epidemic in this country yet no one seems to know that a simple urine test can alert you to possible kidney failure is outrageous.

"This disease is known the silent killer as you can have 90% of your renal function fail before you even see a single symptom.

From a professional perspective; owning a PR agency, I was more than aware of the media's disinterest in the subject (Kim Kadashian gets more coverage - go figure!) so I approached Kidney Health Australia with a concept to make kidneys sexy and hopefully get some 'decent exposure' for this tragic disease within the community.

"We are hoping Red Undies Week will follow along the same lines as Movember and Pink Ribbon Day campaigns in raising awareness of this disease and to let the sufferers know they are supported.

"At the same time, we didn't want it to be overtly sexy or crude or too depressing given charity fatigue - just something light-hearted and fun enough to make people talk and hopefully get talking. Most people are surprised to hear the facts and staggering statistics. The ultimate aim here is to encourage a regular urine test at the same time as you may have your breasts/prostate/whatever checked regularly.

"Kidney disease affects people of all ages - babies, children, middle-aged and the elderly - and it can happen to YOU. We have to get the message out and I dearly hope this campaign will enable us to do so!"

Well done, Juliet. So what are you waiting for? Get involved!