Inspi(RED)

FYI: The following opinion is entirely my own. Just making that clear. :)

If you guessed what the topic is from the title, you are awesome! If not, you will be awesome once you read this. Trust me.

Ever since my 5th grade teacher introduced me to the idea of buying UNICEF Christmas Cards, where the proceedings go to UNICEF and eventually to help out the kids who are not as fortunate as us, I have been interested in charity. I'm not one of those Hollywood celebs who can just donate billions, so I've been looking for something that feels "right" for me, and then I learned about Product RED. Wikipedia always summarizes the best so here's the quick snippet:

"Product Red, styled as (PRODUCT)RED, is a brand licensed to partner companies such as American Express, Apple Inc., Starbucks,Converse, Motorola, Gap, Emporio Armani, Hallmark, Microsoft, and Dell. It is an initiative begun by U2 frontman Bono and Bobby Shriver ofDATA to raise money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria." (Full Article)

I can see how this campaign can get some heat, for one can argue that it's using life threatening disease as a way to make people buy the respective companies' products. I do agree that that is one way to look at it. But also, it is true that the percentage of the money you spend on your shirt, iPod, and Caramel Macchiato goes to the fund that is then used to provide medications for people in need. If you're buying those things anyway, isn't it better to choose the (RED) products? At least that's how I feel about it. Especially with this economy, not everyone can take a huge step to save the world, but I think we can make small baby steps to save one person, one day at a time. Everyone's entitled to their own belief, so I'm not saying that you should buy the (RED) products from now on. However, this campaign is something I support, so I would like to share and let you know that it's out there, in case you didn't know about it until now. Knowing is always better than not knowing. :)

Beside, the iPod in red is pretty cool and fabulous regardless of the whole charity campaign deal, don't you think?

Writing this made me want that Caramel Macchiato. Well, I shall go have that cup of coffee. :)

xx - N