Hey guys, it’s Greg with Apple Explained. And in this video we’re going to cover the
history of special edition RED Apple products, including what makes them different from other
product colors. Now this video topic was the second place
winner of last week’s voting poll, and if you didn’t get to vote, make sure you’re
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in your mobile activity feed and you can let me know which video you’d like to see next. So if you’ve been an Apple user for a while,
you might already be familiar with the Product Red brand. Because Apple first partnered with them back
in 2006 when Apple released the special edition Product Red iPod nano. But you may not know all of the details behind
it. In fact, many people don’t even realize
Product Red is a separate company from Apple. So let’s begin by taking a look at what
exactly the Product Red brand is, and then cover the work Apple has done in partnership
with them. Now Product Red was founded in 2006 by Bono,
the leader singer of U2, and Bobby Shriver. The brand had one goal: To involve the private
sector in raising awareness and money to help eliminate HIV/AIDS in eight African countries. And where does the money go? Well, the primary recipient of the funds is
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. And Product Red raises this money by partnering
with companies who create special Product Red branded items, and then pledge a certain
percentage of those profits. And there are actually some pretty high profile
companies who partner with Product Red, including Coca-Cola, Nike, Starbucks, Converse, Hallmark,
and even Pewdiepie. But Apple was one of the first companies to
work with Product Red when they created their special edition second generation iPod nano. Now we’ll get into the details of that iPod
later, but right now you may be wondering, like I was, why Apple was so eager to participate
in Product Red’s campaign. Because Apple never had a reputation of being
an especially charitable company. In fact, Steve Jobs, then Apple CEO, was known
for being the opposite of generous. Only making one public donation to the SEVA
Foundation back in 1980, which consisted of $5,000 and an Apple II computer. And although there’s evidence that Jobs
donated millions of dollars privately, many people didn’t know about that until long
after his death. So perhaps at the time Jobs found it advantages
to have Apple partner with a charitable organization like Product Red. But that wasn’t the only reason why Apple
was quick to help out. Because Bono, the founder of Product Red,
had always been close to Steve Jobs. In fact, back in 1982 Jobs sold his San Remo
duplex apartment to Bono. And in 2004 Apple partnered with Bono to create
the special edition U2 iPod. Which featured a red click wheel, band members
signatures on the back, and came preloaded with U2’s entire music catalog. So it was almost natural for Bono to approach
Apple for help when creating the Product Red brand. But Steve Jobs went a step further, and gave
his opinion on the logo Bono chose for Product Red. Saying that the parenthesis interfered with
the logo and that they should be removed. But Bono disagreed, so Jobs relented, but
made it clear that the logo would never appear in the Apple Store. And this actually resulted in some bitterness
from Bono that’ll come up later in the video. Now when Product Red was actually founded
in 2006, Apple had their first special edition device ready to go. And that was the 2nd generation iPod nano. It featured a red aluminum design with the
product red logo on the back, and was exclusively available in Apple’s retail and online stores. And for each Product Red nano sold, Apple
donated $10. Now that may not sound like much, but because
Apple sold so many iPod nanos, it generated the largest amount of money for Product Red
in their first year than any other partnering company. But this was only the beginning. Because over the next twelve years, Apple
would release more than a dozen new products and accessories that featured the Product
Red branding. The second of which wasn’t really a product
at all, but rather a gift card. The iTunes Product Red Gift Card was introduced
on January 9th 2007 and Apple pledged 10% of the cards value to the campaign. And although it was only available for a limited
time, Apple reintroduced the Product Red Gift Card in 2014 but only as a free bonus for
customers who purchased items on Black Friday. And the amount on the card depended on which
product you purchased. And when Apple updated their iPod line in
2007, they introduced not only a new Product Red nano, but also an iPod shuffle, both of
which were again exclusively available in Apple’s retail or online stores. And the following 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th generations
of iPod nano all featured a special edition Product Red model. And the only difference between them is that
Apple donated $13.20 for every nano sold beginning with the 6th generation, as opposed to just
$10 before. And 2011 had another Red surprise in store,
because for the first time, Apple released a Product Red accessory; the Red Leather iPad
Smart Cover. And the company donated $4.80 for each one
sold. Now there’s a pretty interesting story behind
this accessory. Because as we know from earlier in the video,
Jobs wasn’t a fan of the Product Red logo. And apparently Jonathan Ive wasn’t either. Because the location of the logo on the iPad’s
smart cover was very inconspicuous. Placed in small print on the inside edge of
the accessory. And this outraged Bono, who felt Apple wasn’t
doing enough to raise awareness for the campaign. So he actually complained on stage during
an interview alongside Jonathan Ive, pulling out an iPad Smart Cover and saying, “Where's
the (Red) branding? Nobody can see that. This is modesty run amok. This is the Apple way. They're like a religious cult.” Ive remained calm and replied by pointing
out Apple had developed over half a dozen Red branded products and that the partnership
was very special to them. And although Bono didn’t appear to’ve
enjoyed the Red Smart Cover, customers must have, because Apple branded a second accessory
the following year in 2012. This time it was a Red iPhone 4 Bumper case,
and Apple donated $2 for each one they sold. And that same year, the 4th generation iPod
shuffle was introduced in a special Product Red edition, with $4.80 being pledged for
each unit. Now up until this point, the only real Apple
products that had received the Product Red branding was the iPod nano and shuffle. And that’s probably because nothing else
they made really came in colors. That is, until the 5th generation iPod touch
in 2012. And because its design featured color, Apple
introduced a special edition Product Red model where they donated $13.20 from each sale. Now after the Red iPod Touch, Apple wouldn’t
release another Product Red item for five years, marking the longest break since they
began their partnership with Bono’s organization back in 2006. So when Apple did finally create a new Product
Red device in 2017, it was pretty big news. And it ended up being the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus,
which was the first iPhone to ever be released in this signature Red. And since the 7, Apple has released a special
edition Product Red iPhone with each new generation. Including the red iPhone 8 and 8 Plus in April
2018, and the red iPhone XR in September 2018. And unlike the iPods, Apple didn’t make
their pledge amount public for each Product Red iPhone they sold. Only stating that a portion of proceeds will
be donated. Now those are the main devices Apple has released
in Product Red, but there are more accessories that I haven’t mentioned like the Red leather
and silicon iPhone cases, Red Smart Battery case for the iPhone, Red Apple Watch bands,
the Red Leather Sleeve for iPad pro, and the Red Apple Pencil case. So clearly Apple is more involved with the
Product Red campaign today than ever before. Especially when considering the Red auction
fundraiser Jonathan Ive participated in. It took place in 2013, where Ive partnered
with acclaimed industrial designer Marc Newson to curate Product Red’s second auction fundraiser
conducted by Sotheby’s. Now this auction featured some very cool items
designed with the help of Jonathan Ive. The first of which was a pair of solid rose
gold EarPods that ended up selling for $461,000. There was also something called the Red desk
that Ive created alongside Marc Newson, but for some reason it wasn’t actually red. But that didn’t deter buyers, since the
desk sold for $1,685,000. But I think the coolest item Jonathan Ive
designed for this auction was a Leica camera that was expected to sell for $750,000, but
ended up going for $1.8 million. And the last item provided by Apple was a
one-of-a-kind Red Mac Pro, which I think looked pretty incredible, and it sold for $977,000. Now there will be a third Red auction coming
up in December of this year which Jonathan Ive will be a part of again, but we’ll have
to wait and see what kind of products he’ll offer up. So since Apple first partnered with Product
Red in 2006, they’ve raised over $160 million for the organization. But the campaign has received its fair share
of criticism. For starters, some people believe the huge
amount of money Product Red invests in marketing isn’t proportional to the real-world effect
they’re having in Africa. And this means the money users donate through
purchasing an eligible product would be much better spent by giving directly to the Global
Fund itself, rather than the Product Red brand serving as an expensive middleman. Also, corporations who’ve partnered with
Product Red have been criticized for using the appeal of charity as a publicity tool
rather than a vehicle for real social responsibility. And when you consider that only $18 million
dollars was raised for The Global Fund in 2006 after Product Red spent $100 million
dollars in advertising, it begs the question of whether or not they’re operating for
the greater good of corporations, or for the real people in need. So that is the history of (RED) Apple Products,
and if you want to vote for the next video topic, don’t forget to subscribe. Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next
time.
