According to a recent study, a whopping 95% of Americans wear t-shirts. Yes, even celebrities, as Detroit recently noted when they saw Hollywood star Ben Affleck rocking a “Detroit City” t-shirt in an ALS Ice Bucket Challenge video he posted to Facebook.
Now, Pure Detroit, the shirt’s retailer, is joining the effort to help raise both awareness and proceeds for the ALS Association, which helps fund raise to support research for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, which is more commonly known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease. ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the spinal cord and in the brain.
Pure Detroit specializes in Detroit-themed gifts and apparel, and has locations in the city’s Renaissance Center, Fisher Building, and the Guardian Building. The retailer is now going to donate 25% of the sales of their “Detroit City” t-shirts, which are each priced at $24, of the week when Affleck posted the video to the ALS Association.
The ALS Association reported that as of August 19, it had received a whopping $22.9 million in donations. Compared to the $1.9 million it received during the same time period in 2013, it’s clear that the Ice Bucket Challenge is a roaring success. The donations have come not only from existing donors, but also from 453,210 new donors to The Association.
Pure Detroit’s creative director says that he was actually there at the Fisher Building location about a month ago when Affleck was in town filming a scene for the up and coming major motion picture, “Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice.” The star apparently had time in between shooting to pop in and pick up a few items.
