When will everyone see past the facade of (Product)Red? Yes, some of the companies involved have committed a considerable amount of the revenue from their (Product)Red to the campaign (Motorolla's contribution of 50% of Product(Red) RAZR, KRZR, and SLVR). However, it is ultimately a ploy to generate sympathy revenue--a company puts on a sad face, pretends to care about AIDS in Africa and suddenly has won over consumers who had previously thought GAP or Starbucks to be evil multinational corporations who employ foreign workers for low wages.
I do not intend to knock the (Product)Red initiative as a whole, rather the greedy companies who simply utilize the sympathy that participation in the program generates. In principle, the initiative allocates profits from otherwise greedy corporations to charitable organizations in Africa--money that the companies would not otherwise donate. The possibility of tapping into a new market of globally conscious and sensitive consumers is the appeal for companies to participate in the program.
In the case of Starbucks, I do not believe that they are putting in nearly as much as they are getting out of (Product)Red. Starbucks' contribution to (Product)Red is as follows: "For every (Starbucks)Red Exclusive beverage purchased, Starbucks will contribute five cents to the Global Fund to invest in AIDS programs in Africa." On first reading that seems acceptable. Not overly generous, but acceptable--my response was to go "hmm." However, that "hmm" (accompanied by a slight smirk of complacency) soon became a "hmmm" (accompanied by an inquisitively raised eyebrow). Upon further inspection, I learned that the (Starbucks)Red Exclusive beverages are the Peppermint Mocha Twist, Gingersnap Latte, and Espresso Truffle. Upon further thought, that "hmmm" became a "hmmmmm" (accompanied by a frown and slight eye-roll). To begin with, these "exclusive" beverages are significantly more expensive than anything else on the menu. So, the problem I find is twofold: 1) These beverages will be ordered less often due to their higher price-point and overly specialized nature (gooey syrop shots) 2) If they are so expensive (over $4 CDN for a standard "tall" size), the company's contribution of 5¢ for every cup sold is pathetic.
Every Starbucks cup is adorned with a cardboard sleeve bearing the (Product)Red logo and a sentence below it that says something along the lines of "Saving the world one cup at a time." This gives off the impression that every Starbucks beverage is a part of the campaign, rather than just three overly sweet, overly expensive beverages. Starbucks has completely warped the purpose and spirit of (Product)Red for its own form of sympathy marketing.
