The RED Campaign, a celebrity-backed effort to raise money for for the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, has recently reported that its partners have raised U.S. $25 million.
According to Bobby Shriver, the chairperson and Chief Executive of the campaign, U.S. $19 million is already being spent in Rwanda and Swaziland. He adds RED's partners have spent less than U.S. $50 million to advertise their campaign.
Shriver wrote a recent letter to the editor of the Los Angeles Times disputing some of the facts in an opinion piece written by William Easterly and carried by many newspapers throughout the world, including allAfrica's publishing partner the Accra Mail. In the article, “What Bono Doesn't Say About Africa” Easterly criticizes the RED campaign, arguing that Africa needs investment, not aid.
Shriver's letter specifically addressed a passage in which Easterly wrote, “Perhaps Bono was grouchy because his celebrity-laden "Red" campaign to promote Western brands to finance begging bowls for has spent $100 million on marketing and generated sales of only $18 million, according to a recent report.”
Shriver also criticizes Easterly's depiction of the recent Africa issue of the U.S. magazine, Vanity Fair. Shriver contends that contrary to Easterly's view, the issue portrays Africa in a positive light. “He must not have read about Kenya's economic growth or Chinese investment in Africa or the Touareg music festival in Mali,” Shriver wrote.
