Apple Watch rainbow strap will raise money for LGBT charities
Proceeds from a rainbow Apple Watch strap will go towards LGBT charities, the tech giant has confirmed.
Apple launched the custom watch strap as it updated its Watch range earlier this year.
The line-up included a £49 ($49) rainbow strap, billed by Apple as a special “Pride Edition”.
In a first for the company, the product directly raises funds for LGBT charities.
An explanation on the website says: “Apple is proud to support LGBTQ advocacy organizations working to bring about positive change, including GLSEN, PFLAG and The Trevor Project in the U.S. and ILGA internationally.
“A portion of the proceeds from Pride Edition band sales will benefit their important efforts.”
It is not clear what proportion of the profit goes to charity.
The company appears to have tactically underplayed the new product in countries hostile to LGBT rights, however.
The strap is mysteriously absent from the Russian edition of the Apple website.
On the Chinese Apple store website it is listed only as a ‘rainbow strap’, despite the Hong Kong website correctly saying ‘Pride strap’.
Apple also recently launched a special edition iPhone to raise money to fight HIV/AIDS, but refused to say how much money would go to charity.
In March this year the company’s special red iPhone 7 and 7 Plus went on sale, with a hefty £919 ($919) price tag for the most expensive model.
The phone was prominently marketed to consumers as “an unprecedented way to contribute to the Global Fund and bring the world a step closer to an AIDS-free generation”.
But despite the claim appearing in promotional material, the company refused to explain how much of the profit will actually go to charity, following multiple requests from PinkNews.
The small print on Apple’s website specifies that only an unspecified “contribution” would go to charity from each purchase, despite Apple’s high profit margins on the luxury device.
