Giving Fish to the World's Poorest (but not too many)

While we are talking about programs that only pretend to be first and foremost about helping the world's poor (see previous post), I noticed this today.

"It seems that the "Red" campaign, launched by Bono to purge Africa of disease ...has, after all, been more about promoting Bono and his famous mates than raising cash for Africa. Advertising Age calculates that around $100 million has been spent blanketing billboards and magazines with images of Bono and other "celebrities", while the total sum raised for Africa is $18 million." (From "Hating Bono Again"). This makes me think about William Easterly; not sure why.

The Advertising Age article from which this fact comes had a nice quote from one of the Red campaign critics that is almost as depressing. "The Red campaign proposes consumption as the cure to the world's evils," said Ben Davis, creative director at Word Pictures Ideas..."Can't we just focus on the real solution -- giving money?"