Supermodel philanthropist Christy Turlington Burns made a guest appearance at Apple's big event on Monday, promoting its brand new smartwatch as well as the charity she founded.
"I run to raise awareness and funds for a nonprofit organization I started called Every Mother Counts, which is dedicated to making pregnancy and childbirth safe for every mother. Each year, millions of women don’t receive critical care throughout their pregnancies," the mother of two
wrote on her Apple blog.
During the San Francisco event, she shared the stage with Apple CEO Tim Cook, and told the world that she was the first person to use the watch out in the field. Turlington wore the Apple Watch at one of her fundraiser races, the Kilimanjaro Half Marathon in Tanzania.
"The watch is a great running tool," she explained.
"That first day in Tanzania, I needed to run 3 miles, but of course I didn’t know the route . . . So I set a distance goal in the Workout app. At the halfway mark, the watch tapped me on the wrist and I knew when to turn around and come back. During the race, it was great to be able to see distance, pace, and elapsed time all at once."
Turlington, who was named one of Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People" last year for her advocacy work, said she will continue to use the watch in her upcoming races, including the Virgin Money London Marathon.
Some media outlets controversialized Turlington's appearance at the Apple Watch event, questioning why the company would choose to have a supermodel from the 1990s serve as the face of its new product.
"Some described a video, showing Turlington Burns’ marathon training using the wearable, as 'embarrassing', while one expert claims she has cost the Californian technology company $17 billion, after its stocks tumbled briefly last night,"
the Daily Mail reported, though it's unclear where the financial information came from.
The Apple Watch will go on sale April 24, and will range in price from $349 to a whopping $10,000 for the 18-karat gold version.
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