Feeding the World a Line?: Celebrity Activism and Ethical Consumer Practices From Live Aid to Product Red

Abstract

This article examines the nature and efficacy of three major celebrity-inspired, ethical consumer charity campaigns: the 1984-5 famine relief movement, Live 8 and "Make Poverty History", and Product Red. Through an analysis of some of the most significant texts, spaces, and figures of each campaign, I establish how organizers capitalized on the ―one-world‖ notion to effectively draw audiences to consume both charity concerts and merchandise; and I identify the economic and psychological beneficiaries of each campaign and their subsequent celebrity driven, ethical consumer spin offs. My analyses allow for a theorization of the ways in which both Africa and charity function within the Western cultural imagination.