Conscience versus Taste

[Utoo]

So, through a cool chain of events, I find myself in the position of obtaining a free iPod nano from an organization I'm associated with. My heart is thumping at getting a (RED) nano because I really believe in the project & its philosophy. However, while I like the red color of the (RED) nano, I'm less enthralled with it than I am with the plain black one. So now I'm left with making a choice that, ultimately, can be done selfishly or charitably.



What to do?






btw, I think that some of the (RED) companies, most notably Apple, GAP, and Motorola, don't really get the whole premise of (RED)-----basically, that it's supposed to be products that you'd buy anyway. Why are all of their (RED) products so obviously red or Africa-centric?

 

[indra]

What's selfish about this choice?

Take the free iPod and donate to whatever charity makes you happy. I mean you were going to spend $100+ to get a (RED) Nano and something like $10 of that would go to the charity. (RED) is only a good idea if you buy the products but wouldn't donate otherwise. If you take the freebie and then donate -- even only a quarter of the (RED) Nano purchase price -- to a suitable charity your money has gone much further.

 

[Carek1230]

Donate the free iPod to charity or sell it like on eBay and donate the money to African Well or one of your favorite charities.

 

[BonosSaint]

What's selfish about this choice?

Take the free iPod and donate to whatever charity makes you happy. I mean you were going to spend $100+ to get a (RED) Nano and something like $10 of that would go to the charity. (RED) is only a good idea if you buy the products but wouldn't donate otherwise. If you take the freebie and then donate -- even only a quarter of the (RED) Nano purchase price -- to a suitable charity your money has gone much further.

Win-win.

 

[Lila64]

What's selfish about this choice?

Take the free iPod and donate to whatever charity makes you happy. I mean you were going to spend $100+ to get a (RED) Nano and something like $10 of that would go to the charity. (RED) is only a good idea if you buy the products but wouldn't donate otherwise. If you take the freebie and then donate -- even only a quarter of the (RED) Nano purchase price -- to a suitable charity your money has gone much further.

brains

 

[BVS]

Why are all of their (RED) products so obviously red or Africa-centric?

I'm not sure what this means...

So normally no one would buy a red colored phone?

And what does "Africa-centric" mean?

 

[Utoo]

What's selfish about this choice?

Take the free iPod and donate to whatever charity makes you happy. I mean you were going to spend $100+ to get a (RED) Nano and something like $10 of that would go to the charity. (RED) is only a good idea if you buy the products but wouldn't donate otherwise. If you take the freebie and then donate -- even only a quarter of the (RED) Nano purchase price -- to a suitable charity your money has gone much further.

You and my wife think alike....she suggested that last night. (And I think that's a good thing ).

I'm not sure what this means...

So normally no one would buy a red colored phone?

And what does "Africa-centric" mean?

What I mean is that their only (RED) products are red---and that's it. No plain-looking (RED) phone, no yellow (RED) iPod. And by Africa-centric, I mean that half of the GAP (RED) shirts, at least for guys, have the continent of Africa or some phrase about Africa splayed across the front of the shirt. I'm not saying it as a bad thing in that I'd never wear a shirt with Africa on it. What I mean is that that's not really the intent of (RED). My understanding of it, anyway, is that the point was to have people make the social and financial contribution through purchasing stuff that they would have bought anyway, perhaps willing to pay a little more or something (i.e., the GAP shirts cost a little more, but are made in Africa, etc.). So while there are indeed people who would buy a red colored phone, and even though I know that there is supposed to be some sort of social advertisement on the part of the consumer, I would think that if a company really bought in to the (RED) philosophy, they'd make contributions when people would buy any colored phone, iPod, etc. But I could be wrong.