海角大神

At about 10:45 on Thursday morning, the Today Show鈥檚 Al Roker called out for a green tea as he stared at his phone. Canada鈥檚 鈥渇uturecast鈥� forecast sat still on the screen behind him. He was nearly 13 hours into his 34-hour live weather report broadcast, which aims to break the Guinness Book of World Record for聽longest uninterrupted live weather report broadcast.

Behind him, where onlookers waved toward the camera, a sign saying #rokerthon sat in the window.

鈥淗ow鈥檚 our trending going?鈥� he asks. 鈥淭o me, 13,000 doesn鈥檛 seem like a聽lot of tweets.鈥�

Soon, he snapped back into action, calling Calgary鈥檚 forecast 鈥渂ikini weather鈥� and smiling at the camera. He capped off the 13th hour with a selfie, which he tweeted by 11:10 a.m.聽

Mr. Roker鈥檚 broadcast aims to raise money for the United States Service Organizations (USO), which helps troops during their deployments. As of press time, his campaign had raised more than $30,000.

Charity groups around the world are participating in Thursday鈥檚 Guinness World Records Day, which historically has seen very public stunts that aim to break records.

Richard House, a children鈥檚 hospice in London, gathered聽373 people dressed as penguins, breaking the hospice鈥檚 former record, set last year, of 325.聽BBC Gloucestershire in England aimed to beat the聽longest line of cakes world record聽(607 meters) for the charity BBC Children in Need.

But with Roker鈥檚 celebrity guests, such as Nick Lachey and Ed Schultz, and the ticking clock below the screen, coverage of his high-profile stunt may come across more like self-promotion than a genuine fund-raising effort. The trend aligns with other big-name promotions, like the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge or No-Shave November, during which men do not shave to raise awareness for cancer research.

Over the summer, bloggers and commenters picked apart the Ice Bucket Challenge, when celebrities, politicians, and thousands of others raised more than a million dollars in two weeks to fight Lou Gehreg鈥檚 disease. Many participants filmed themselves dumping a bucket of ice water over their heads and posted the clip online.

The challenge was tremendously effective, raising over $100 million in the US. Barbara Newhouse, the president of the ALS association, told the Boston Globe in August that she had "never seen anything like this in the history of the disease."聽

"We couldn鈥檛 be more thrilled with the level of compassion, generosity, and sense of humor that people are exhibiting as they take part in this viral initiative," she said.聽

In an聽August piece for Vice, editorial assistant Arielle Pardes called the Ice Bucket Challenge 鈥渂asically narcissism masked as altruism.鈥� She compared the phenomenon to Livestrong Bracelets that raised money to cancer and the red equal sign to support gay marriage that many posted to social media outlets.聽

鈥淚t鈥檚 trendy to pretend that we care, but eventually, those trends fade away,鈥� she wrote in Vice.

In an email to the Monitor, Ms. Pardes said that while raising money for charity is a worthy cause 鈥� and that she was thrilled that so much money was donated 鈥� problems arise when stunts distract from the cause.

聽鈥淲hen the stunt becomes its own thing, separate from the cause (which, in my opinion, was the case with the Ice Bucket Challenge) then you aren鈥檛 effectively motivating charitable donations, and then what鈥檚 the point?鈥� she wrote.

In a Nov. 11 piece on 鈥渟lactivism鈥� 鈥� the slacker鈥檚 activism鈥� 鈥� Scott Gilmore, of Maclean鈥檚, criticized these high-profile efforts as selfish. 鈥淚f you want to help, just give money or time. Anything else is only about you,鈥澛爃e wrote.聽

And in recent years, charities have started pushing back, asking for donations as well as public support. UNICEF took a stand in 2013 with a video ad campaign.

鈥淟ike us on Facebook, and we will vaccinate zero children against polio,鈥澛爐he posters read, urging readers to buy polio vaccine for 4 Euro to save the lives of a dozen children. 鈥淲e have nothing against likes, but vaccine costs money.鈥澛犅�

By 12:45 p.m., Roker wore a white Channel Five baseball cap. As the southern plains weather forecast was on the screen, he restated the purpose of the marathon. USO, he said, takes care of troops here and abroad. He waved at onlookers outside and leaned back in his chair. After a pause, he gave the forecast for Abilene, Texas 鈥� clear skies with dropping temperatures.