Red Rejection

Friday, March 2nd, 2007
With all the good intentions of Bono and his RED campaign they have spent more than $100 Million to raise a fraction for solutions. Shopping is not the solution to suffering. If you are a blog reader you will likely see this critique on many sites as BuyLessCrap has launched a viral campaign to disrupt RED.
The organizers of BUY (LESS) support genuine efforts to drive more money to charities. But, they openly question the efficacy of expensive and wasteful corporate retail cause marketing approaches like the (RED) campaign. WPI founder Ben Davis says, “When donations are based on percentages of profit and the accounting methods are not transparent, you can spend $100 on a (RED) product with the notion that you’re helping to save lives in Africa — but there is no assurance that any of that $100 will actually reach the cause. Not one (RED) cent.”
The (RED) campaign benefits The Global Fund through sales of specialty items including clothing, cell phones, wristwatches, credit cards, iPods and sneakers. But, only small portions of (RED) product sales actually support the Global Fund’s work to stop HIV/AIDS in Africa. BUY (LESS) encourages people to Give More to The Global Fund and to other worthy causes by providing direct access.
With a catchy URL, www.buylesscrap.org, the BUY (LESS) campaign’s website features mock ads that parody the (RED) campaign and are designed to get people’s attention. Most importantly, the site provides direct web links to charitable organizations. If a larger conversation is sparked about the unreasonable amount of advertising dollars spent on cause marketing campaigns–money that could be going directly to help people–then BUY (LESS) will have done its job. BUY (LESS) supports giving without consuming and gives you a direct line to make a difference.
Shopping is not a solution www.buylesscrap.org

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