U2 frontman Bono started Product (RED) some 18 months ago, with Bobby Shriver, to ramp up donations to the Global Fund by enlisting companies to deliver a percentage of profits to the charity, in exchange for buying some good will by associating themselves with the organization. (For a fee, of course.)
Since its beginnings, RED had scrounged up $59 million dollars from corporations like Apple, Motorola, Dell, Gap, and American Express. As RED, and it's PR firm at Sunshine & Sachs, will helpfully remind you, the AIDS-happy Global Fund, started in 2002, received a paltry $5 million over five years in donations from private companies and individuals. But since RED got involved, that sum jumped to $59 million, with "$22.3 million has gone to Rwanda, $14.1 million to Swaziland and $10.5 million to Ghana, leaving $12 million to be disbursed," according to a letter sent to Jossip by Dr. Christoph Benn, the fund's director of external relations.
How, then, is Rush & Molloy able to report this morning – just one week after Dr. Benn issued us that statement – that RED is responsible not for $59 million in donations, but a full $100 million?
Because last night, Bono and Damien Hirst raised another $40 million.
At a Soethby's auction event, where Queen Noor, Michael Stipe, Dennis Hopper, Martha Stewart, Christy Turlington, Ed Burns, Q-Tip, Helena Christensen, Brian Williams, and Anna Wintour were among a crowd bidding on things like Hirst's "Where There’s a Will There’s a Way," which scored $7.15 million, Bono increased RED's donations 67 percent from where they stood just the day before.
That is: From months zero through 18, RED generated $59 million from your purchases of RED iPods, RED Dell laptops, and RED Razrs. Then, after month 18, Bono just gathered a few of his celebrity friends and nearly doubled RED's donation fortunes.
Raising money to fight AIDS is Africa is a hard cause to criticize. But isn't the central purpose of RED to build a brand that has consumers, who are already buying certain things, begin contributing to charity? Or is the message they're sending simply that the wealthy, when combined with donated big ticket items, make the cash flow in a lot faster than a profit share from Armani watches?
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Firstly, I think your argument regarding the hypocrisy of the Bono (RED) auction dinner is justifiable. Why should there be (RED) iPods and Dell computers when Bono can simply go through his celebrity rolodex and raise a ridiculous amount of money in one night? The fact that Bono can increase “RED’s donations 67 percent from where they stood just the day before” is a testament to his ultimate omnipotence in the celebrity/world leader arena. I think that by hosting this benefit with Sotheby’s, Bono has completely ignored the general principle behind (RED as a means to raise global consciousness. Initially, the (RED) campaign was to reverse the fact that AIDS ravaged communities in Africa were being ignored, and while the initiative to raise awareness about the plight was through a consumer vehicle, it definitely made society think about how to help. How much awareness is really going to be raised in this confined, exclusive auction in which the general public cannot event attend? The main purpose of (RED) is to create a community where any contribution from anyone can make a significant difference—even the (RED) website touts that buying an a (RED) iPod Nano buys enough pills to save a person’s life. While it is pretty startling to consider how simplified the (RED) message is conveyed (in order to cater to a consumer driven public), this easy formula enforces the initiative’s charm—the fact that it is so accessible and easy to conceptualize. I think that your argument that “celebrity checkbooks are better” pragmatically rings true in that the small proceeds from iPods and Motorola Razrs are not enough—exorbitant celebrity donations are essential to the success of the initiative. While criticizing millions of dollars of donations is rather difficult to do, I think Bono has entirely ignored the philosophy of his campaign, blocking the general public from contributing. I wonder if he will continue hosting these elaborate auctions so as to exponentially increase contributions to the Global Fund—how successful will the next (RED) cell phone or clothing item really be if Bono continues to tamper with the ideologies of his business?