How could I have missed it? Granted, I'm not a shopper, trundling off to North Michigan Avenue at the slightest pretext. The street's too crowded with tourists and horse-drawn carriages, all jostling about. Still, if I had only known...
Bono came to town, and Oprah took the wee lad over to the Magnificent Mile for a bit of a walk. All for a good cause, it is said, now that himself has been busy drumming up publicity for his new charity. Popped into The Gap, I heard, where you can buy a Product Red (patent pending) T-shirt for a lot of money and know that a portion of the profits will go to fight AIDS in Africa. Makes you feel good to spend your hard-earned dollars, doesn't it?
And where better than Michigan Avenue to chase those dollars? You didn't see Bono and Oprah on the west side of State Street, urging shoppers to purchase a new pair of shoes so that the drunks at Pacific Garden Mission could eat that night. More flash and glitz on the north end of town, a stone's throw from the former home of Mr. and Mrs. Potter Palmer. Steps away from what once were the mansions of Chicago's elite, the robber barons who gave the city some gems, that's where Bono took a stroll. No one's building new Shedd Aquaria or Field Museums or Ryerson Halls at the Art Institute. Hoping that all their excess capital could be channeled to AIDS relief, he smiled for the cameras and the tourists who flocked around, all while hawking his new venture.
Corporate America has joined forces with Bono, promoting his charity and assuring the consumer that they can feel good about their purchase because they are helping the poor. Corporate America would do or say just about anything that sounds good, if it means they can sell more goods.
Tune in to Oprah today, and you can watch the spectacle. Haven't we always been fascinated by the rich and their doings?
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