There's a trendy new way to get on board with a global cause. (Product) Red, founded on Jan. 26, 2006, by activist and U2 lead singer Bono and Bobby Shriver (Chairman of Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa), is a for-profit brand name whose proceeds are earmarked for combating the AIDS epidemic in Africa through The Global Fund.
(Product ) Red is an economic initiative that delivers private sector money to an organization whose mission is to end AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria worldwide.
"As first consumers, we have tremendous power. What we collectively choose to buy, or not buy, can change the course of life and history on this planet," (Product) Red's Web site states. The project encourages consumers to think about the amount of power they carry in every transaction they make.
Bono and Shriver decided on the name because red is the color of blood, which is one of the ways the HIV virus is spread from person to person. According to the project, the use of bright red in the campaign suggests a state of emergency.
The brackets, or the "embrace," that surround the word on the various products associated with the project are seen as status, or "(Red) power." Each company that joins (Product) Red's initiative places its name inside of the brackets, symbolizing their union with the mission.
Companies such as The Gap, Motorola, Armani, Converse, Apple and others have all agreed to donate 50 percent of the proceeds from earmarked (Product) Red products to (Red)'s mission. All money will be used to purchase AIDS drugs for mothers and children suffering with the HIV virus in Africa.
"All these smart people have gone to work for AIDS in Africa," Shriver said in his public letter posted on (Product) Red's Web site.
Though the mission started with only a few, the number of companies joining forces with Bono and Shriver are constantly growing.
"(Red) is a new idea we're launching to work alongside the growing ONE Campaign to Make Poverty History," Bono said in a letter he posted on (Product) Red's Web site.
Now, everyone can make a difference in the lives of people living half a world away and do it stylishly.
As of January, $11,303,926 was delivered to The Global Fund with 2 million American members. By 2008, (Product) Red's goal is to recruit five million members, which will then top the membership roster for the National Rifle Association - one of America's top lobbying firms for guns rights activists, which has approximately four million members.
Though (Product) Red is a fairly new consumer choice, some AU students have already encountered the products. Other students, such as Rachel Cochrane, a grad student in the College of Arts and Sciences, said she had never heard of it. However, Cochrane added that after being made aware of (Product) Red's mission, she was open to sporting the brand.
