Bono Speech at the NAACP

28 Jul, 2008  General

9 Comments so far »

1. mom said

   am July 28 2008 @ 5:53 pm

   Great video- thanks for sharing.

2. Bono must be stopped said

   am July 30 2008 @ 11:46 am

   …on the contrary, I think the world needs to be hearing much much less of Bono. In fact, I think Bono needs to retire from public life.

   Bono’s philanthropy efforts are entirely misguided, counter-productive and self-righteous.

   Many grassroots activists involved in the fight against AIDS on the ground level have called out Bono’s RED Campaign for

   a) spending $40 million more on marketing than its raised in what’s become a hugely expensive ad for the GAP

   and

   b) spreading a monolithically depressed and disempowered vision of Africa that undermines the movement to build on African assets

   Help us force Bono to retire:

   http://www.thepoint.com/campaigns/bono-retire-from-public-life-and-well-donate-a-ton-of-money-to-fight-aids

3. Biscuet said

   am July 30 2008 @ 12:07 pm

   Thanks so much for the comment, i’m glad you’ve provided a way for us to think deeper about this and not take not just take it because everyone says it’s great. However…

   It’s not about Bono. I don’t care whose mouth it comes out of, i just know the world needs to hear a message of love. The world needs to hear that God is with the rejected, the broken, the poor, the hurt and the lonely. America needs to hear that America is not supreme. The world needs to hear the truth that where you live should not determine whether you live. I don’t care if it’s Bono, or you, or me… i’m just glad someone has gained enough global respect to wake us up to world poverty and God’s heart to redeem that.

4. b/ said

   am July 31 2008 @ 4:50 pm

   Thank you my friend for posting this and that you have a patient and God-like heart to respond to your comments in such a way. Also, thank-you that you are not concerned about building on African assets but on speaking for the poor and the broken. I used to dislike U2 because they were mainstream and I didn’t want to “be trendy.” But now, I love em. And I appreciate that his passion for those in need. Thank you also that your fight is not 100% completely misguided in that it is not geared toward solely stopping Bono, but that you care about people. Perhaps if the previous commenter were concerned about a million people rather than 1, the organization might accomplish more. Please erase this comment immediately if not sooner if it promotes division and is against what your blog is for.

5. Bono must be stopped said

   am July 31 2008 @ 5:08 pm

   I’m not the only voice concerned about Bono’s misguided charity efforts….there are many grassroots leaders whose life mission is to empower Africa and fight problems like AIDS and poverty, who think that Bono’s campaigns are misguided publicity stunts.

   As critical thinkers we have to explore the most effective philanthropies before we support them. Certainly there is a long history of philanthropic efforts that have done more harm than good, and whether or not the intentions are pure (which I’m not confident that Bono’s are) doesn’t matter, only the effectiveness.

   Look at the information & reassess your opinion. RED spent $40 million more on advertising for multinational companies than it raised. It was a huge commercial. There are other more effective ways to fight AIDS, and nobody asked Bono to lead this movement.

6. biscuet said

   am July 31 2008 @ 5:29 pm

   If you want to measure effectiveness in dollar amounts then we can do that…

   So far you have $340 pledged for the global fund if Bono will shuttup.

   So far the RED campaign has donated over $60 MILLION to the global fund.

   Bono has created an undeniable global awareness toward ending poverty that i applaud him for.

7. Bono must be stopped said

   am August 1 2008 @ 11:29 am

   For your information, we’re up to $595 raised — and growing

   And as for the RED Campaign, they’ve raised $60 million but spent $100 million on advertising. So considering they could have sent that $100 million directly to the Global Fund, they’ve actually lost $40 million.

   Given those numbers it looks like we’re beating the RED Campaign by $39,999,405.00

   And we didn’t even have to sell a bunch of sweat shop t-shirts to pull it off!

8. The Humanaught said

   am August 4 2008 @ 5:51 am

   @Biscuet: Thanks for sharing this video - very powerful stuff.

   @BMBS: You have some massive oversights in your vision on how things work. You seem to think that marketing dollars aren’t needed, and people will just, rather majestically, donate randomly to causes they’ve never been made aware about - and then the needy organizations can just utilize all that much more money for the cause at hand.

   However, people are moved to action, and that’s what marketing and advertising, by its very nature does - moves people to take action. Heck, if it’s powerful enough to move my fat butt off the couch to buy things I don’t need, it’s certainly powerful enough to encourage me to take part in something that can help people, by making me realize it’s dead easy to do so.

   That it has traditionally been used to serve only corporate agendas means nothing, it’s a machine, a tool, and the RED Campaign is just utilizing that tool to further their altruistic goals.

   Now, taking the reality of the situation into account, and understanding that the RED Campaign didn’t actually pay for any advertising, but again utilized the systems in place and partnered with businesses by advertising their products (but branded RED), they tapped into the companies’ already-existing advertising budgets and managed to:

   1. Raise a boatload of money through increased awareness.
   2. Sell products that raised additional funds.
   3. Created a brand that makes it easier and easier to raise awareness and sell fund-raising products.
   4. Create a system by which there are only winners and no losers - a system other non-profits and NGOs can also utilize to increase awareness and raise money.

   Now, it’s not hard to see that you’ve staked your reputation on this anti-Bono campaign, and as such need to defend it well-past the point of logical concession, but when you’re wrong, by all accounts, should just admit you’re wrong.

   And Julie Cordua, RED’s marketing manager, very clearly illustrates why you are wrong.

9. Good Video: Bono at NAACP Ceremony | A China Blog on Suzhou Expat Life | The Humanaught said

   am August 4 2008 @ 7:25 am

   [...] this video is well-over a year old, but I just came across it at Biscuet.com, a site who’s author is joining the ranks at Lost Laowai (which is always looking for new [...]

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