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Name: AKA
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Changing the World
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Normally, I'm all for any campaign that brings to attention the problems in the world in a way that attracts the attention of the public. The popular silicone bands that come in a rainbow of colours representing different causes were a good way to do this (LiveStrong [the yellow bands], Make Poverty History [white band], breast cancer [pink band] etc).
There's a new, popular campaign started by Bono (who else?) of U2 called (PRODUCT)RED
where a number of popular brands are selling red versions of their product - a red iPod Nano, red American Express card, a line of clothing by the Gap and Armani and so on. A portion of the profits will go to anti-retroviral medicine for women and children in Africa to prevent the spread of AIDS.
It's a commendable effort. Whatever the intention of the many celebrities involved (everyone from Steven Spielberg, Kanye West, Oprah and Christy Turlington... they've even got Dakota Fanning) - whether for the attention or for the actual want to help the cause, the campaign itself is gaining attention. People want what celebrities advertise and buying the Red products shows they're in with the current fad and have the latest merchandise.
I do have a few problems with this though. The whole idea behind "portion of profits" - how much is that exactly? Would it not be better for the company to simply make a donation? Not only would this get more medicine, but it will also get where it's needed faster. When you consider the cost of designing, producing and promoting the special red-ified products, it would make for a hefty donation.
Second, I don't understand how ethical it is for a company like the Gap, notorious for its sweatshops, to exploit one group of people in a Third World country and pass along money to others in similar conditions. The Gap, if anything, is sustaining, if not increasing, the gap between current conditions and those which are hoped for.- I know the Gap has, in recent years, attempted to become more responsible. They've supposedly put monitoring systems into place in many of their 3000 factories, spread over 50 countries, to make sure conduct is up to the standards of the Calvert Group and other anti-sweatshop organizations.
- However, the Gap refuses to provide information on specific factories and the "monitoring systems" are actually people employed by them to be full-time inspectors. These inspectors are only found at factories that are independently unionized, which only a tiny fraction of countries have.
- In economies that are paying poverty wages, when people have no rights and no power, what you end up monitoring are well-run prisons. Sure, factories will be cleaned up. They'll have bathrooms where the water runs. But when it comes to wages, when it comes to having a democratic voice on the shop floor, monitoring and codes of conduct are a dead end.
Lastly, my biggest problem is with the people. Rather than push the issue itslef at people, they're pushing a red Motorola RAZR phone. Or slogans on t-shirts such as "INSPI(RED)", "HAMME(RED)", "BO(RED)" and "DESI(RED)" - I get the first one, but the last three have nothing to do with AIDS or the actual issue of helping reduce the spread of it through medicine. The average teen may not understand how anti-retroviral medicine can help someone halfway around the world, but that doesn't make an excuse for not educating them about it. How is a kid supposed to gain knowledge if it's not accessible?
In the end, the Red products are just a way for the participating companies to pimp their already well-known products back into the market as a new item by slapping a new coat of shiny paint on them, just in time for the fast approaching Christmas season.
This brings it back to the age old question: Do the ends justify the means?
Maybe so. Despite the rogue intentions of the corporations and the glazed minds of most of the buyers of the products, aid will be getting to those who need it. Aid, which sadly, may not have gotten to them before, will now reach those who need it because more of the world's eye will be focused on the troubled areas to see if the goal of PRODUCT(RED) has been reached.
My verdict? Get inspi(red) on your own and take step you think will best support your beliefs.
If you want to keep up-to-date with the campaign, they even have a blog:
(Though I have to say, I really love this spoof...)
3 Comments:
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i think you hit the mark right there... this campaign is a farce... more like an exploitation by MNCs to boost their bottom line... i frankly won't be buying anything 'red'... never did like the colour anyway :P