Fact Check

Light to Unite Virtual Candles

Will lighting a virtual candle on the 'Light to Unite' web site raise $1 for the National AIDS Fund?

Published Dec. 7, 2006

Claim:

Claim:   Lighting a virtual candle on the "Light to Unite" web site will raise $1 for the National AIDS Fund.


Status:   Was true, but the maximum contribution level has been reached.

Example:   [Collected via e-mail, 2006]




www.lighttounite.org

Light A Candle
and Bristol-Myers Squibb will donate $1 to the National AIDS Fund

All you have to do is load the page.
And move the match to the candle image
And light it, and $1 will be donated to the National AIDs fund.
There will be a maximum of 100,000 dollars donated,
but right now only 11,390 candles have been lit
And every person can help and it takes 2 seconds!



Origins:   In

conjunction with World AIDS Day, Bristol-Myers Squibb launched its third annual "Light to Unite" campaign on 27 November 2006. The purpose of the "Light to Unite" promotion is to both raise awareness of HIV/AIDS issues and raise funds for communities across the United States whose HIV/AIDS needs are underserved (and, the more cynical would say, to promote Reyataz, Bristol-Myers Squibb's anti-HIV drug).

The promotion promises to deliver $1 to the National AIDS Fund for every visitor who comes to the www.lighttounite.org web site through 31 December 2006 and lights a virtual candle. However, the promotion was capped at a maximum contribution of $100,000, and the "Light to Unite" site received over 100,000 candle-lighting visitors within a short time of its launch, so further web site visits are no longer raising additional monies for the National AIDS Fund.

However, it is possible — as sometimes happens — that the sponsor (Bristol-Myers Squibb) will react to the overwhelming public response by raising its maximum contribution cap.

Last updated:   7 December 2006


David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.

Article Tags