Proceeds from a
rainbow Apple Watch strap will go towards LGBT charities, the tech giant has
confirmed.
Apple launched
the custom watch strap as it updated its Watch range earlier this year.
The line-up
included a £49 ($49) rainbow strap, billed by Apple as a special “Pride
Edition”.
In a first for
the company, the product directly raises funds for LGBT charities.
An explanation
on the website says: “Apple is proud to support LGBTQ advocacy organizations
working to bring about positive change, including GLSEN, PFLAG and The Trevor
Project in the U.S. and ILGA internationally.
“A portion of
the proceeds from Pride Edition band sales will benefit their important
efforts.”
It is not clear
what proportion of the profit goes to charity.
The company
appears to have tactically underplayed the new product in countries hostile to
LGBT rights, however.
The strap is
mysteriously absent from the Russian edition of the Apple website.
On the Chinese
Apple store website it is listed only as a ‘rainbow strap’, despite the Hong
Kong website correctly saying ‘Pride strap’.
Apple also
recently launched a special edition iPhone to raise money to fight
HIV/AIDS, but
refused to say how much money would go to charity.
In March this
year the company’s special red iPhone 7 and 7 Plus went on sale, with a hefty
£919 ($919) price tag for the most expensive model.
The phone was
prominently marketed to consumers as “an unprecedented way to contribute to the
Global Fund and bring the world a step closer to an AIDS-free generation”.
But despite the
claim appearing in promotional material, the company refused
to explain how much of the profit will actually go to charity, following
multiple requests from PinkNews.
The small print on Apple’s website specifies that only an unspecified
“contribution” would go to charity from each purchase, despite Apple’s
high profit margins on the luxury device.
No comments:
Post a Comment