During the weekend of 26-27 June 2010, the Born HIV Free campaign featured in a number of headline awareness raising events, in particular a performance by Paul McCartney in London’s Hyde Park exclusively broadcast on the Born HIV Free Youtube site, as well as an exhibition tent at the Solidays festival in France, and the opening of a dedicated online boutique selling specially designed items in support of the campaign.
This past Sunday, 27 June, witnessed the first ever streaming of a European concert by YouTube. More than 1.2 million viewers logged on to the dedicated Born HIV Free channel on Sunday, which featured Paul McCartney performing live as part of the "Hard Rock Calling" music event in Hyde Park, attended by 40,000 fans.
During the concert, online viewers were invited to sign their names on the campaign website, to show their support during the streaming. The YouTube broadcast will continue to be available for viewing on the channel for one month.
During the live show, as Paul McCartney performed, supporters flooded the Born HIV Free YouTube channel, Facebook fan page and Twitter account with an outpouring of support for the campaign.
More than 14,000 tweets were sent relaying information about the broadcast concert, nearly 600 Facebook postings, and almost 1,000 blog entries about either Paul McCartney or the Born HIV Free campaign.
Many of the supporters thanked Paul McCartney for donating his concert to raising awareness about Born HIV Free, whilst others worked tirelessly during the show to promote the campaign. Paul McCartney led the stage with an evocative set that urged every member of the 40,000-strong audience to join in his songs.
Speaking about the success of the concert, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy said, “I am thrilled with the great success of the concert broadcast on the Born HIV Free channel. Paul McCartney was enthusiastic about participating in the campaign, and he showed his support by giving 16 of his best tracks to be visible on the channel.”
“It was an innovative and exciting way to attract the public’s attention for a serious matter by offering a moment of shared enjoyment to all,” added Julien Civange, the producer behind the Born HIV Free campaign and originator of the online broadcast. “The success of the concert and streaming is an inspiration to repeat the experience with further events to support the campaign.”
This past weekend also welcomed the 12th annual Solidays festival in Paris, France, a volunteer run music event involving several internationally known musicians and performers, whose mission is to support the fight against AIDS by raising awareness about the continued threat of the debilitating disease.
The Born HIV Free campaign was featured at Solidays within a tent where people could find out more about the work of The Global Fund and the campaign. They also had the opportunity to register online to show their support. Thousands of festival participants from all ages and backgrounds visited the tent, watched the campaign videos on large screens, and signed their names on the Born HIV Free campaign site. Many NGO representatives also visited the tent and expressed their gratitude for the work of The Global Fund, without which many of their programs would not be possible.
Supporters of the Born HIV Free campaign at Solidays included Antoine De Caunes, Honorary President of Solidays, Philippe Douste-Blazy, Chairman of the Executive Board of UNITAID, and Jack Lang, France’s former Minister of culture.
In conjunction with the Paul McCartney performance on Sunday evening, Spreadshirt, an online platform selling personalized clothing and other objects, launched a dedicated online boutique with items showcasing the Born HIV Free campaign.
The creation of the Born HIV Free boutique features t-shirts printed with the red and grey double-ribbon campaign symbol, and further products related to Born HIV Free will be available later in the summer, including t-shirts printed with images from the “Baby in the Sky” film made for the campaign by the Bonzoms, as well as images from animation films made by the Oscar winning creative team H5 using the campaign logo as inspiration. Customers will be able to buy t-shirts for men, women and children in different sizes.
No profits will be made from sales of the t-shirts and instead they will be offered at cost in order to help spread the Born HIV Free campaign message to end mother-to-child HIV transmission by 2015. Additionally, Spreadshirt will provide shipment of the t-shirts at no extra cost following the McCartney concert as a show of support for the campaign.
This special offer is valid until Wednesday, 30 June. The dedicated online boutique can be found here.
