Bono’s Red Campaign or rather campaign for “conspicuous consumption” disguised as “helping the poor” spends $100 million on marketing and receives $18 million in sales!

Enormous outlay
By any measure, the buzz has been extraordinary and the collective marketing outlay by Gap, Apple and Motorola has been enormous, with some estimates as high as $100 million. Gap alone spent $7.8 million of its $58 million outlay on Red during last year’s fourth quarter, according to Nielsen Media Research’s Nielsen Adviews……..
But contributions don’t seem to be living up to the hype. Richard Feachem, executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the recipient of money raised by Red, told The Boston Globe in December, “We may be over the $100 million mark by the end of Christmas.”

Familiar names raced to be at the forefront of the biggest charity hype [swipe / con] feeding into obsessive consumption “I buy cause I am” - something like that was displayed in Selfridges London a couple of xmas’s ago.

Steven Spielberg smiling down from billboards in San Francisco; Christy Turlington striking a yoga pose in a New Yorker ad; Bono cruising Chicago’s Michigan Avenue with Oprah Winfrey, eagerly snapping up Red products; Chris Rock appearing in Motorola TV

And how much money did this group of con artists make from their smiley smiley faces dripping out at passers by from billboards and glossy mags? Well Bono for one reaped a fair share of bling… For example in the Bono’s “ONE” campaign (to persuade the US government to donate an additional 1% to ending poverty) U2 received “$389 in gross profits” (apparently the 2nd most lucrative tour of all times!) Add to this sales of merchandise then you get the real figure of what these already multi-millionaires are racking in on the backs of young kids not to speak of contributing to the bling consumption mentality that is eating up the world’s resources faster than a mouse chased by a cat.

The Gang of Red obviously deny all this saying that $11 million was given to Rwanda and Swaziland for health related products - we have to take their word for it. But so what? First how much was actually spent on marketing to get that $11 million, the money (marketing and donations) all comes from pressurising mostly young people to spend spend spend - what kind of values are being taught here - that if you spend money you help poor people? more like if you spend money you make money for business meanwhile the young consumer gets into debt (red) and Bono along with the rest of this gang of reds who are already worth $billions are making even more $billions. Rwanda and Swaziland get $11 million from Dread Red and have to pay $50 million in debt payments back to the west that gave them the $11 in the first place that was raised by getting young people to buy stuff they dont need and put them into debt too. 419 by any other name!

Tags: Red Campaign; Bono