Red Campaign in the Red?

The NY Times reports that Project Red, or Red Campaign, which is dedicated to raising money to fight AIDS in Africa, is not doing so well.

According to their research, Red is actually spending much more in marketing than it is actually raising for the fund. Bono, the lead singer of U2, and one of the most active and outspoken supporters of the campaign, mentioned as early as last year that they had raised close to $50 million for the fund. Not so, apparently:

"In its March 2007 issue, Advertising Age magazine reported that Red companies had collectively spent as much as $100 million in advertising and raised only $18 million. Officials of the campaign said then that the companies had spent $50 million on advertising and that the amount raised was $25 million. Advertising Age stood by its article."

-nytimes.com

A sad truth: image outspends charity.

lhp