"Hello, my name is Bono, and I'm a rock star" — so begins today's rather unusual video blog from NBC Nightly News. Bono dropped by 30 Rock to speak with former Africa traveling companion Brian Williams (and, we'd wager, cameo in some sort of SNL digital short, seeing as he was there on site), and filmed this vlog on the SNL set "having just finished being Brian Williams' roadie." Wow. Brian Williams is having a Lee Woodruff sort of week. But then again, so is NBC — working the cross-promotional magic of having Williams host SNL has folded in a two-birds-with-one-stone promo from Bono, and, if our wee hunch is right, a pretty hot cameo for the show (never mind the spot on Conan the other night, and never mind sneaking in refs to all the other shows in one of Williams' promos for the show— available on the MSNBC and Nightly News video sites, natch). Lotta synergy there.
But, it should be noted, some nice synergy elsewhere — Africa. According to Bono, since Williams accompanied him to Africa last May the progress has been "astonishing": In Tanzania, 1.5 million more children are going to school, in Rwanda, 800,000 more, in Kenya, malaria is down 44% — all thanks to the $47 million in proceeds raised through Bono's "Red" campaign via the purchase of participating specially-branded products. Bono's vlog was meant to thank NBC viewers, to whom Bono attributed the boost ("This really wouldn't be happening without the kind of coverage we're getting on NBC, taking us into the American heartland, into the American heart"). All very lovely and amazing, actually — but totally apart from that, has there every been a more ridiculous-sounding combination of silly-sounding words than "Bono's vlog?"
Video here.
p.s. Charlie Gibson, I guess that's why you go to Africa with Bono.
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