WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new video spoof of Apple’s classic “Get a Mac” ad campaign reveals that Mac and PC share a dirty secret.
Here’s what Apple’s classic “Get a Mac” ads don’t tell you: both Macs and PCs help fuel war in the Congo – the deadliest war in the world.
Actress/director Brooke Smith and cinematographer Steven Lubensky created a version of the ad for the Enough Project to show how both Macs and PCs help fuel war in the Congo – the deadliest war in the world. They teamed up with actors Joshua Malina and John Lehr to create a version that wittily explains how.
The conflict in eastern Congo is fueled by a multi-million dollar trade in minerals essential to our electronic products. More than five million people have died as a result, and hundreds of thousands of women have been raped over the past decade in what experts term “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis”. The armed groups perpetuating the violence earn hundreds of millions of dollars each year by trading in four main minerals – tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold. These minerals are used in virtually every electronics product on the market today – from our cell phones and digital cameras to our laptops and fax machines – including Macs and PCs.
Because consumer demand to buy conflict-free products will help create a market for them, the Enough Project invites people to share the one-minute spoof video with friends, in hopes it will go viral. And it’s off to a roaring start.
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nicholas Kristof premiered the video in his op-ed column for the Sunday, June 27 edition of The New York Times. “Electronics manufacturers have tried to hush all this up. They want you to look at a gadget and think ‘sleek,’ not ‘blood,’” writes Kristof.
On Monday, The Huffington Post spotlighted the video on its homepage, with a link to an op-ed by Brooke Smith and Enough Project Co-founder John Prendergast, “Hello, I’m a Mac, and Here’s How I Help Fuel the World’s Deadliest Conflict.”
High-tech tastemakers Gizmodo, ComputerWorld, GottaBeMobile, and Fast Company have featured the video, too. And in its daily Idea Feed for June 28, Big Think asks, “Are Phones the New Blood Diamonds?”
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Enough is a project of the Center for American Progress to end genocide and crimes against humanity. Founded in 2007, Enough focuses on crises in Sudan, eastern Congo, northern Uganda, and Somalia. Enough’s strategy papers and briefings provide sharp field analysis and targeted policy recommendations based on a “3P” crisis response strategy: promoting durable peace, providing civilian protection, and punishing perpetrators of atrocities. Enough works with concerned citizens, advocates, and policy makers to prevent, mitigate, and resolve these crises. For more information, please visit www.enoughproject.org