Starbucks will light the Space Needle red on Monday to make it known that the coffee company will donate 5 cents for every beverage sold to help AIDS victims in Africa.
Last month, Starbucks announced its partnership with (RED), a private organization that benefits health programs in Africa through the Global Fund.
Starbucks is not paying for the color change. The Space Needle managers agreed to go along because they believe in the cause, said Ron Sevart, chief executive of Space Needle LLC.
"You can't buy lighting the Needle," Sevart said. "We would never do that for anybody. But when a charity makes sense, when it's the right kind of message -- this is just one of those causes and one of those partners that it was an easy yes for us."
Starbucks approached the Space Needle within the past month, Sevart said. The Space Needle hired a lighting company for the special effect.
Starbucks will donate $10,000 to the Space Needle's "Tree for All" program, which supports 30 local charities, Sevart said.
Starbucks is also sponsoring free ice-skating on Mondays in December at the Winterfest skating rink at Seattle Center.
Rock singer Bono and Bobby Shriver founded (RED) in 2006 to benefit the Global Fund. It works with other companies, including Apple, Dell, Gap and Microsoft.
Starting Thursday, until Jan. 2, Starbucks will donate 5 cents for beverages marked as (RED) exclusive drinks.
On Monday, which is World AIDS Day, Starbucks will go one further. For that day only, Starbucks will donate 5 cents for every hand-made beverage sold at participating stores in the U.S. and Canada.
Throughout the promotion, Starbucks observers will notice red barista aprons and a standalone store lit up red in downtown Seattle, as well.
Starbucks' newly hired advertising firm, BBDO New York, designed an advertisement that ran on CNN on Wednesday. The ad, made of words and music, was meant to be seen by thousands of travelers at airports on the heavily traveled day before Thanksgiving.
BBDO New York said Monday that it succeeds Wieden & Kennedy as Starbucks' "agency of record." The recent Election Day free coffee offer was also BBDO's idea.
On Friday, Starbucks plans to host a bash in New York's Times Square with Mario Batali, Annabella Sciorra, Helena Christensen and other stars to promote the (RED) partnership.
It will also host events on Facebook and post a video on YouTube.
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