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Jony Ive and Bono to Appear at Cannes Lions Festival to Discuss (RED) Partnership

The organizers of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity today announced that they will be honoring Bono with the first ever LionHeart Award later this month at the 61st annual festival. The award is being given for Bono's work with the (RED) campaign to raise funds for the fight against AIDS.

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Alongside the honor, Bono and Apple design chief Jonathan Ive will participate in an on-stage interview to discuss their collaboration on the campaign, which has seen contributions from the purchase of (PRODUCT)RED Apple products reach $70 million. Ive last year also partnered with friend and designer Marc Newson to auction off a number of one-of-a-kind items, including a unique red Mac Pro and rose gold-plated EarPods, to benefit the (RED) campaign.

In an exclusive seminar for Cannes Lions delegates, Bono will join Jonathan Ive, Apple Inc’s Senior Vice President of Design, in a discussion moderated by Shane Smith, CEO and Founder of VICE Media, and introduced by Anne Finucane, Global Strategy and Marketing Officer of (RED) partner, Bank of America. Bono and Jonathan Ive will discuss the success of (RED) and [its] unique collaboration with global partners – including Apple, (RED)’s largest corporate contributor to the AIDS fight – and the record-breaking (RED) Design Auction curated by Jonathan Ive and Marc Newson. The auction resulted in $44 million for the Global Fund on World AIDS Day last year.

The 45-minute interview, which will represent a relatively rare public appearance for Ive, will take place on June 21. It is unclear whether video of the interview will be made available after the event, but we have contacted festival organizers to inquire about the possibility.

(Thanks, Joe!)

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Top Rated Comments

IJ Reilly Avatar
154 months ago
I didn't even know they'd been arrested.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
154 months ago
I've never known why a someone purchasing an ultimately frivolous disposable consumer product would want to tie up the buying experience with visions of africans dying.

Can't Apple just quietly donate a punch of money to good causes instead of giving Boner another chance to tell us what he's doing for charidee?
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
154 months ago
Why not release a RED iPhone and iPad if they really care about raising money? They would fly off the shelves


Instead they auction a red Mac Pro so one rich guy can have it as a status symbol


What's the logic? Is it about raising money for a cause or a status symbol?

it's never been about raising money. It's all about publicity.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Cole Slaw Avatar
154 months ago
Bono and Apple are probably comparing notes on how to avoid paying taxes.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jadot Avatar
154 months ago
So what I've learned from reading through this thread so far:

People really don't like Bono.
People really 'have an opinion' about pictures of people.
Conspiracy is alive and well, and still hilarious.
People are idiots, by and large.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
154 months ago
I'm sorry, but I disagree. These people are using their celebrity status to do their part to make the world a better place. What's wrong with that?

Some of them do more for good causes, than many of us complainers do.

Bono doesn't. The amount of tax he dodges every year would feed millions. There are many that give money and don't need the world to know about it.
Bono is in it purely for himself.

Someone who buys a plane ticket on Concorde so his hat can travel in first class is a pretentious attention seeking moron.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)