Apple’s design guru Jony Ive and U2’s Bono to talk (RED) charity partnership at Cannes Lions festival

Cannes Lions (Jony Ive and Bono 001)

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity said today that Jonathan Ive, Apple’s SVP of Design, will be in attendance of the Cannes Lions festival, due later this month in Cannes, France.

In addition, the rock band U2’s lead singer Bono will be honored with his first ever LionHeart Award. The two men are scheduled to sit down for an interesting 45-minute chat to talk working together on (RED) campaigns that raise funds to help fight AIDS.

Apple recently donated a cool $500,000 to a San Francisco anti-poverty charity. Besides, a charitable auction for a lunch with CEO Tim Cook has raised over $330,000…

According to the festival organizers, the Ive-Bono interview will be moderated by Shane Smith of Vice Media.

In an exclusive seminar for Cannes Lions delegates, Bono will join Jonathan Ive, Apple Inc’s Senior Vice President of Design, in a discussion moderated by Shane Smith, CEO and Founder of VICE Media, and introduced by Anne Finucane, Global Strategy and Marketing Officer of (RED) partner, Bank of America.

Bono and Jonathan Ive will discuss the success of (RED) and it’s unique collaboration with global partners – including Apple, (RED)’s largest corporate contributor to the AIDS fight – and the record-breaking (RED) Design Auction curated by Jonathan Ive and Marc Newson. 

The interview will be held on Saturday, June 21, at 15:15.

Last year, Jony Ive and fellow industrial designer Marc Newson created several one-off (RED)-branded items, including a unique Mac Pro variant, that have collectively raised a substantial sum at Sotheby’s to help with the fight against AIDS.

All told, the auction has resulted in $44 million raised towards the Global Fund on World AIDS Day. Apple’s own (PRODUCT)RED products have thus far contributed $70 million to the cause, making it the largest contributor as the charity has raised a total of $250 million.