World AIDS Day Is Today
Today marks “the beginning of the end of AIDS”:
- Add a patch to the One and Red campaigns’ 2015 Quilt, pledging to buy at least one Red gift this holiday season, and you’ll get to choose one of The Killers six consecutive Christmas songs benefiting Red for free.
- You can watch events unfold live tody on the One campaign’s YouTube channel, with guests including President Obama, Pres. Bush, Pres. Clinton, Bono, Alicia Keys…
- Here’s a personal story about AIDS on the Huffington Post from a sister who lost her brother back in 1988.
- NPR’s Radiolab recently ran an absolutely fascinating story on the origin of AIDS — it goes back a lot farther than you think.
Actually, Ella, Product (RED) is a pretty great idea to raise awareness about and money for AIDS from people who might not otherwise be exposed to the dire situation in Africa.
(RED) is not a charity – it is a business – and as such, it is sustainable. By partnering with big name brands like Apple and GAP, (RED) reaches a broad audience through advertising mediums that would not be available to a non-profit.
It is true that the amount of money raised through the purchase of (RED) products is perhaps not as large as one would like, but think of it this way: it is much easier to convince a person to buy a $25 shirt, knowing that a small percentage of the money will benefit a charitable cause, than to convince a person to donate $25 directly to a charity. The disparity in money raised is somewhat counter-balanced by the much wider demographic being reached.
Buying (RED) products may not be as altruistic or monetarily beneficial as donating directly to a charity, but you were going to buy that new iPod anyway – so why not make it a (RED) iPod? You will feel good about your contribution and will have made a small impact by practicing regular consumer behavior.
Really? So you spend something like $100 or more on a (Red)Gift and save babies from dying? Are you being serious? (How much of that goes to the actual cause, and how much benefits the companies?)
I really, really like your blog – but that’s completely stupid.