No make-up mix-up costs R360 000

ALMOST £20 000 (R360 000) has been donated to Unicef instead of Cancer Research UK in error after people pledging money via SMS wrote “donate” rather than “beat” in the message.

Others accidentally inquired about adopting a polar bear from the World Wildlife Fund, according to the BBC. Unicef said so far £18 625 (R330 000) had been accidentally donated under the #nomakeupselfie campaign – an internet craze that has seen thousands of women post pictures of themselves wearing no make-up – when it should have gone to Cancer Research UK.

So far more than £8-million (R142-million) has been raised for Cancer Research UK.

Unicef UK official Mike Flynn said the “genuine mix-up” came after people texted the word “donate” to 70 099, rather than the word “beat”. Unicef has sole use of “Donate to 70 099”.

The accidental polar bear inquiries are thought to have come about because some people’s smartphones corrected the word “beat” to “bear”, automatically using predictive text.

This triggered a question about adopting a polar bear with the WWF. – Daily Telegraph