In 1985 Ethiopia took the international spotlight and shone it on its bloated bellies.
1984 began with the western world knowing very little about Ethiopia. They knew the basics – that it was in Africa, and full of Africans – but beyond that they surprisingly knew very little about an impoverished nation on the absolute far side of the planet.
And then it stopped raining there.
No rain in Africa, you say? Isn’t the entire continent just an uninhabitable wasteland? Yes. Yes it is.
So a couple of writers sat down with the knowledge that a famine was taking place and did what anyone high on cocaine and awake for 72 hours would do - wrote a Christmas song. That Christmas song was “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” Enter the largest collection of New Wave artists outside of a San Francisco methadone clinic’s clientele.
And so the renowned scholars Bono and Boy George educated the world on the plight of this African nation – with the emphasis being that they’re hungry, and you’re not.
The song inspired millions to donate, and as they reached for their wallets they saw the many television ads requesting aid – then swiftly put their wallets away.
“What’s this? Large protruding bellies? I thought these children were starving.”
“The best I can do is to tell my children not to waste food – lest they face the guilt of someone in Ethiopia dying from malnourishment as a result.”
I personally adopt an Ethiopian a year – I’ve almost got as many Ethiopians as I have Dale Earnhardt memorial plates.
Final Score: 
