Includes bibliographical references (pages 209-225) and index.
Introduction: RED and the reinvention of international aid -- Band aid to brand aid: celebrity experts and expert celebrities -- The rock man's burden: fair vanity and virtual salvation -- Saving Africa: AIDS and the rebranding of aid -- Hard commerce: corporate social responsibility for distant others -- Doing good by shopping well: the rise of "causumer" culture -- Conclusion: celebrities, consumers, and everyone else.
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"Lisa Ann Richey and Stefano Ponte offer a deeply informed and stinging critique on "compassionate consumption." Campaigns like Product RED and its precursors advance the expansion of consumption far more than they meet the needs of the people they ostensibly serve. At the same time, such campaigns sell both the suffering of Africans with AIDS (in the case of Product RED) and the power of the average consumer to ameliorate it"--Provided by publisher.