Video: "All You Need Is Love" in 156 countries
Sure, it’s a promotional vehicle for Starbucks. But it’s also a way to raise awareness and funding to fight AIDS in Africa. And it makes me smile like a fool. What more, really, do you need from a viral video?
The video in question is a four-minute compilation of people around the world singing “All You Need Is Love,” recorded all at the same time on December 7, 2009.
What does it have to do with travel, you ask? Not much, aside from the fact that many of the musicians are performing in front of famous sites or in national garb. (The Canadians, naturally, are in a hockey rink.)
It’s all part of a bigger initiative called the Starbucks Love Project. You can record your own version of the song and upload it to the site, if you feel so inclined; the giant coffee corp will donate 5 cents US (to a maximum total of US$50,000) to the fight against AIDS for every video it gets.
Yeah, cynics will say it’s all promotion for Starbucks. But in my books, I’d rather see Starbucks send $50K to Africa than see them spend it on yet another freakin’ bus shelter ad.
