Psoriasis Cure Now Uses Social Media Marketing to Educate

Psoriasis Cure Now!, an organization that educates the public about the misunderstood autoimmune disease, psoriasis, is a perfect example of how social media has impacted every aspect of communication. Pre-Internet, and especially pre-YouTube, it would have been close to impossible for a small organization with non-sexy disease and a shoestring budget of under $15K to have much of an impact.

Even though 7.5 million people in the U.S. have psoriasis, it can't get no respect (or funding). That's probably because psoriasis doesn't have a celebrity spokesperson.

So, in July, Psoriasis Cure Now announced a contest asking people to come up with one-minute videos to educate the public about the disease. The maker of the winning video will get $7,500.

Among the finalists (chosen from 60 entries) are a chiropractor from Nebraska and a civilian contractor to the Army Corps of Engineers currently in Baghdad bringing new electricity to Iraq (he left the U.S. shortly after submitting his video).

You can see one-minute videos by none finalists here, and add your comments here until October 25th for the judges to consider.

Here's one I liked, and here's another: