The power of One: a narrative analysis of Bono's One campaign

Megan Rachelle Reiser

This paper examines Paul "Bono" Hewson's One Campaign and the overarching narrative that One tells its viewers about the poverty crisis in Africa that has taken the lives of millions. One is a social advocacy group that raises awareness about poverty and HIV, specifically in African regions. Much of this awareness is through public service announcements, interviews and political coverage through the website YouTube. By using Narrative Analysis and analyzing the messages of 20 videos, two themes and one sub-theme emerged, forming an overarching story of the crisis. The themes include: The Viewer as a Hero and Celebrate/Accelerate. The Viewer as a Hero portrays the members of One as heroes saving the poor during a crisis. Celebrate/Accelerate signifies that many accomplishments have resulted from the efforts of One, but more work needs to be done. The Powerful vs. Powerless sub-theme also emerged, and further explains that the hero holds economic power, is healthy, and is educated, whereas the poor are sick, financially unstable, and uneducated. These themes formed the narrative that the poverty crisis has been occurring for decades, and the members of One are powerful heroes who have a responsibility to help the poor, who possess little power. Power includes access to resources (medication, food, shelter), possessing a higher education, being of good health, and having financial stability. Lives have been saved, but One needs to continue saving those who are still living in poverty. This narrative grants little credibility to Africans who have put time and effort into providing aid and raising awareness toward the crisis. Africans appear as powerless, relying on Westernized nations for survival, further evoking the stereotype that the poor are reliant upon America. Moreover, the narrative is quite simplistic. The viewer is promised that even with the click of a mouse at the computer, millions of lives can be saved. With a crisis that has been occurring for centuries, it is detrimental to portray a complicated issue in a simplified manner. If ending poverty is as easy as logging on to your computer, it seems the crisis would have been resolved long ago.

The power of One: a narrative analysis of Bono's One campaign

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