An article by the NY Times picks up on the continued discussion about how effective the (RED) AIDs charity really is and whether its partners advertising really benefits the charity.
Just over a year ago, the rock star Bono started Red, a campaign that combined consumerism and altruism. Since then, consumers have generated more than $22 million to fight H.I.V. and AIDS in Rwanda by buying iPods, T-shirts, watches, cologne and most recently — as anyone who watched the Super Bowl knows — laptops, with all of them branded “(Product)RED.”… detractors say Red has fallen short. They criticize a lack of transparency at the company and its partners over how much they make from Red products, and whether they spend more money on Africa or advertising.
…But Red has taken the merger of marketing and philanthropy to new levels, becoming one of the largest consumer-based income-generating initiatives by the private sector for an international humanitarian cause.
“I hate begging for money,” [co-founder] Mr. Shriver said. “In most cases when you go and ask for a corporate donation, they’ll cut you a check and that’s it. We wanted something that was more sustainable.”
But that argument has not impressed some activists and bloggers, who say the primary beneficiaries of cause-marketing campaigns are businesses.
Ben Davis of San Francisco, who created a Red parody online that says “Buy(Less),” is encouraging consumers to give more directly to nonprofits that support AIDS programs in Africa.
“I just think that increased consumption in America can’t be the only way to solve Africa’s problem,” Mr. Davis said.
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“I just think that increased consumption in America can’t be the only way to solve Africa’s problem,” Mr. Davis said.
See, I thought that was the whole thing about (RED), is that it is not about INCREASED consumption. Clothes, phones, computers, shoes, iPod … these are things we are buying anyway.
I didn’t go, “Oh let me get an mp3 player now that I can help Africa.” I was ready to buy one and I got the (RED) iPod, because .. well why not?
I might be unique in this, but I doubt it. When I applied my iPod purchase to my budget, it did not go to my “charity” line … it went to my “entertainment” line. So, it effectively increased the amount of my charity spending … I still put that “charity” money towards “pure cause” donations. Again, I like to think that is a common practice (but I’ve been burnt on assumptions before).
Thanks for the incredible blog. I encourage all my students to read it.
February 6th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Nonprofiteers and academics don’t realize that (RED) products are competing with other consumer goods, not with real charities.
If anything, the (RED) campaign has raised awareness of global HIV/AIDS issues and nonprofits should see that as an opportunity, not a threat.
Unless there’s evidence that consumer and advertiser spending on the (RED) campaign has decreased money donated directly to nonprofits, I don’t see the downside.
February 6th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
The day (RED) launched, Bono and Oprah went on a shopping spree on the latter’s afternoon show. Interstitials ran as the two made their way from store to store. These segments showed Bono exploring Gap clothing factories in Africa and showed how (RED) helped pay for health care that these often AIDS infected peoples wouldn’t have be receiving.
This is the rub for me: why should my consumer choices within a Gap/Apple/Motorola store affect whether or not laborers for these products receive health care or not? Isn’t it the responsibility of the corporation to handle these ethical scenarios? If I want a T-Shirt without a pseudo-philanthropic pun, are Gap workers out of luck? I hate to see large, multinationals passing the buck to consumers, making them feel guilty for not supporting the workers (that weren’t being supported in the first place!)
Not everyone is as thoughtful as Cameron Maddux, who comments above. Many might see (RED) as the new “I gave at the office.”
PLUS: while Maddux puts his (RED) iPod under his “entertainment” budget line, do we really think Apple and Gap didn’t write the whole thing off?
February 6th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
When CRM departments join marketing departments our industry may finally have found a soul.
February 6th, 2008 at 1:39 pm