Big name brands such as GAP and Motorola have gone red-not just in color, but by way of participating in an organization to raise awareness about global AIDS.

(PRODUCT) RED is a brand created by Bono and Bobby Shriver, AIDS-awareness activists. A portion of the money made from (PRODUCT) RED items will go directly to the Global Fund to assist African AIDS programs, focusing on providing medicine to women and children. (PRODUCT) RED is working side-by-side with the ONE campaign, which was launched last year to help eradicate poverty.

The color red represents the campaign because it is the color of emergency, as well as blood, which is one of the main ways HIV enters the body. However, companies that have joined forces with Global AIDS awareness do not have to make their products red, though some choose to do so.

Items supporting (PRODUCT) RED will bear the (RED) logo superscript, and include clothes, cell phones, credit cards, sneakers and anything else a company wishes to sell. These items will not cost the consumer any more money than the chosen product normally would; however, it will cost the company more because it will be sharing a large portion of its profits with the Global Fund.

But don’t be fooled; (PRODUCT) RED is not a charity. The goal of the program is to engage the private sector in the fight against AIDS in Africa. Partners include American Express, Converse, Motorola, GAP and Giorgio Armani.

According to the movement’s Web site, joinred.com, less than one percent of the private sector contributes to this cause. By joining (PRODUCT) RED, major brands give consumers control of the corporations’ involvement.

In an open letter on the (PRODUCT) RED site, Bono gives the reasoning behind the idea of (PRODUCT) RED and what it hopes to accomplish.

‘This is an emergency,’ Bono writes. ‘And in these dangerous times, how we in the West respond is an opportunity to show what we stand for, as well as what we stand against. If we’re successful, we will not only transform millions of people’s lives, we’ll transform the way these people see us … and in turn, the world in which we live.’

For more information on (PRODUCT) RED’s mission or merchandise, visit joinred.com

Published on October 30, 2006 at 12:00 pm