It’s World AIDS Day, and people and organizations extend their support in the fight against the deadly disease. Apple has also ensured it is counted among those who are fighting the AIDS menace and has pledged up to a total of $1 million towards efforts to eradicate the disease.
The above commitment forms part of the Cupertino company’s support for the charitable organization (RED). Founded by the U2 singer Bono, (RED) has been working towards making available essential life-saving medicines to those afflicted by HIV/AIDS.
Apple stated there would be a dollar channelized to (RED) for every purchase of its (PRODUCT)RED made with Apple Pay, with the total not exceeding a million dollars. Any purchases made at Apple Store outlets or via the Apple Store app or from Apple’s site will be counted towards the RED donation. The scheme runs from December 1 through December 7.
Likewise, Bank of America too stated they would be donating up to $1 million for every Apple Pay transactions where its cards have been used. Similar to Apple, Bank of America added its support for (RED) will run for a week, starting December 1.
Apple has also stated there will be more of its products that would be added to those already present, the proceeds from which will be donated to (RED). It includes the iPhone 7 Smart Battery Case and iPhone SE Case along with the Pill+ Portable Speaker and Beats Solo3 Wireless On-Ear Headphones. All the new Apple products aka are already available from Apple outlets right away.
That’s not all as there will also be limited edition versions of several of the most sought after games from the Apple Store carrying customized content aimed at creating awareness about (RED) or the plight of HIV/AIDS victims. Similarly, a portion of all in-app purchases will be donated to The Global Fund.
The games include:
- Angry Birds 2
- Angry Birds POP!
- Best Fiends
- Best Fiends Forever
- Boom Beach
- Candy Crush Jelly Saga
- Clash of Clans
- Clash Royale
- CSR2
- Episode
- Farm Heroes Saga
- FarmVille: Tropic Escape
- FIFA Mobile
- Hay Day
- MARVEL Contest of Champions
- PewDiePie’s Tuber Simulator
- Plants vs. Zombies Heroes
- SimCity BuildIt
- War Dragons
- YAHTZEE With Buddies
There is also a documentary highlighting RED’s activities – The Lazarus Effect that can be downloaded from the iTunes completely free. Similarly, all proceeds from the sale of The Killers’ holiday album Don’t Waste Your Wishes in the US will be donated to The Global Fund. The album is available exclusively on iTunes.
All Apple stores which stand at more than 400 will also be displaying the RED logo to create awareness among its customers. The staff too will be able to guide customers if they wish to make any donations directly to (RED), which again can be done easily via iTunes.
Apple CEO commented on the development saying this form part of the high values they set when it comes to the way they operate and function.
“Of course corporations should have values because people should have values,” said Cook. “And corporations are just a bunch of people.”
Cook has earlier been seen lending his voice to a number of civic rights issue such as gay rights and has been championing their cause for a long time now. Privacy is another area where Cook has been seen taking a strong stance even if it means going against the government or its agencies such as the FBI.
Cook had staunchly refused to an FBI request to help unlock one of their iPhones belonging to an accused in a terrorist attack case. Cook then had upheld the importance of maintaining the privacy of its customers at all cost.
However, there are also those who claim donating a million dollars to a company that has over $200 billion in its reserve is just too insignificant, that too when it is derived out of customer’s money. Perhaps they should have donated an ever bigger sum and that too out of its coffers.
Companies using such events to promote how sensible they are to social issues have been all too prevalent, and Apple’s contributions towards RED can well be counted as one such. That said, there is no denying a portion of the money will still stream down to those who need it the most, the HIV/AIDS patients in Sub-Saharan Africa region.
