Point / Counter-point

Advertising Age

Last week, Advertising Age printed a story that included several inaccuracies about (RED). The information below provides the actual facts that Ad Age chose not to report.

Ad Age: "Costly Red Campaign Reaps Meager $18 Million"

Fact: In 2006, (RED) generated more than $25 million in contributions to the Global Fund. That money goes straight to the Global Fund, it does not get funneled in any way through (RED). It represents fully five times what the Global Fund was able to raise on its own in five years. It's twice the amount Australia gave to the Fund in 2006, twelve times the sum of China's contribution.

The additional value that is clearly ignored in this article is the boost in awareness of (RED)'s "shareholders"- the people suffering from AIDS in Africa who count on lifesaving medicine that the Global Fund delivers. First and foremost, we exist to help those people. A consequence of the marketing campaigns of our partners is that the pandemic issue reaches more and more Americans than we could ever imagine doing through our lobbying (data.org) and organizing (one.org) activities. Our partners' marketing of (RED) frees up the Global Fund to focus on their core business of saving lives instead of using their valuable resources raising awareness AND RAISING money FROM THE PRIVATE SECTOR.

Ad Age: "Bono & Co. Spend up to $100 Million on Marketing"

Fact: (RED) does not spend money on marketing. (RED)'s partners agree to divert existing ad dollars to promote (RED) products and the fact that 5,500 people die needlessly every day in Africa from HIV/AIDS. These are dollars that would've otherwise been spent on promoting products that made no contribution at all. Aside from that, the number is completely wrong – by more than 50%. In fact, Ad Age ascribed a value to the FREE media from (RED) media partners such as Google, Yahoo, AOL, VH1 and MTV Networks. They also factored in the value of PR during the launch of (RED) in the US including value from TV news, Oprah and Larry King Live. Ad Age will not cite sources for these guesstimates. Why not? And, although, we corrected these prior to publication, they chose to run with their unsourced number.

Considering that (RED) "shareholders" are the poorest of the world's poor, this irresponsibility is a crime against them.

Bobby Shriver
CEO
(RED)