Michal Marek It has been ten years since the famous singer Bono from the Irish band U2 founded his charity project Red. This initiative is now being referred to as a prime example of the "creative capitalism" that is ubiquitous today. At the time when Bono founded the project together with Bobby Shriver, it was a rather unique thing.
Soon after the launch of the initiative, Bono and Bobby, who is the nephew of the former US President John F. Kennedy, managed to establish cooperation with huge companies including Starbucks, Apple and Nike. These companies have since come out with products under the (RED) brand, and the proceeds from the sales of these products go to the fight against AIDS in Africa. Over ten years, the campaign raised a respectable $350 million.
Now the initiative faces a challenge in the form of a new decade, and Bonovi et al. managed to find another strong partner. That's Bank of America, which already donated $2014 million to Red's campaign in 10 when it paid $1 for every free download of U2's "Invisible" during the Super Bowl. Recently, this large American bank threw in another $10 million and, in addition, began displaying photos of HIV-positive mothers and their babies born healthy thanks to Red on their ATMs. It is precisely the transmission of the HIV virus from a pregnant mother to her child that Bono is trying hard to fight against.
"If we can get these drugs (antiretrovirals, author's note) into the hands of mothers, they won't infect their children, and we can prevent the spread of the disease," says Brian Moynihan of Bank of America. Bono adds that the money that Project Red has generated is absolutely crucial for people and saves their lives. Bono also praises how effective the Red project is for education. “Now you can go to a Bank of America ATM in Toledo, Ohio and you'll see a picture of AIDS-free babies born to Red. It makes sense."
It is said that Bono soon discovered that it would be difficult for him to get enough political support for his plans. The fight against AIDS in Africa is not something that an American politician could have won an election on ten years ago. The money raised by the Red campaign is managed by a non-profit organization The Global Fund, which fights for the eradication of HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. The organization operates on $4 billion a year, mostly from governments, and Red is its most generous private sector donor.
Perhaps even more important than the funds obtained is the already mentioned education, which is much more effective from the mouths of the heads of large companies than from the mouths of health professionals. AIDS has already killed around 39 million people, and HIV-positive mothers continue to infect their unborn children. However, the number of transmissions is significantly decreasing thanks to the much better availability of treatment, and Red has a part in this. “When Red and I started there were 700 people on HIV treatment, now 000 million people are on their medication,” says Bono.
As already outlined, Apple is also involved in the Red campaign. Cooperation with the famous rock singer was already started by Steve Jobs, who launched the red iPod for sale under the (RED) brand. The collaboration has continued ever since and apart from sales other products (e.g. red Smart Cover and Smart Case or Beats headphones) Apple was also involved in another way. Apple designers Jony Ive and Marc Newson for a special auction designed unique products such as a modified Leica Digital Rangefinder camera, which was auctioned for $1,8 million. Apple also took part in a number of other events. As part of the last one, when under the (RED) brand, among other things, he also sold successful iOS applications, for Red raised over $20 million.
As a result, even Apple designer Johny Ive was interviewed about the Red campaign, and he had to answer the question whether he thinks the campaign has influenced other companies in how they think about social responsibility in the corporate environment. Johny Ive replied that he was much more interested in how the mother felt, whose daughter could live, than whether the Red campaign had an impact on other companies.
To this he adds: “The thing that took me to heart was the magnitude and the ugliness of the problem, which is usually an indication for people to turn away from it. I really liked how Bono saw the problem – as a problem that needed to be solved.”
