getting the (RED) out @supost.com

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Date: Fri, Dec 01, 2006, 08:00 AM

This shopping season, the daunting decision of which shirt to buy has greater significance than usual. With the October launch of a nationwide HIV/AIDS awareness and aid campaign called (RED), shopping has taken on a new purpose. Working with some of the nation?s most prestigious brands, including Gap, Armani, Motorola, Converse, Apple and American Express, the (RED) campaign merges philanthropic efforts with consumerism. Developed by U2 rock legend and humanitarian Bono, along with chairman of DATA (Debt, Aids, Trade, Africa), Bobby Shriver, (RED) was first introduced to the U.K. in March of this year and on Oct. 13 was introduced in the U.S. The campaign originated from a foundation called the Global Fund, a non-profit organization that uses both the private and public sectors to raise awareness and money for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria epidemics in Africa. While the Global Fund was created in 2002 and received a significant amount of money from governmental sectors, Bono and Shriver noted that it was failing to engage the public and private populations. In response, about four years ago Bono and Shriver began developing a way to promote the public?s involvement in the fund. ?It was about making a sustainable business model. We are not asking the companies for handouts, we are asking them to engage in a new way of business,? explained (RED) spokeswoman and UCLA alumna Julie Cordua. ?Part of the sales from the products goes to the fund, part goes to the company.? With the October U.S. launch, designated (Product) RED merchandise began appearing on shelves nationwide accompanied by a widespread advertising campaign involving such celebrity ambassadors as Oprah, Kanye West, Chris Rock, Steven Spielberg and Christy Turlington. Gap has developed a whole line of graphic T-shirts with clever words such as inspi(red), bo(red) and even hamme(red), as well as jackets, accessories and red-stitched jeans. Apple introduced a red iPod nano and Motorola introduced a red razor cell phone. Emporio Armani developed a (Product) RED clothing line which includes jackets, sweatshirts, wallets and sunglasses. On the Converse Web site and in select shoe stores, shoppers can find (Product) RED shoes in all of Converse?s classic styles. And the creative buyer can choose to ?MAKE MINE RED? by designing a unique (Product) RED shoe, available only on the Web site. And of course all of the products can be purchased with a (Product) RED American Express card, which donates 1 percent of all of your purchases to the Global Fund each time it is used. ?I found out about it from my brother who works at the Apple store because he told us about the red nano they were coming out with,? said fourth-year sociology student Rebecca Leunis. ?I was attracted to it mainly because of its cause and its size. It?s not just one company, it?s many. It?s not like the usual AIDS research campaign.? Leunis noted that the last time she visited Gap, nearly all of the (RED) merchandise was sold out. A percentage of every product purchased or a set amount of profit will directly benefit the Global Fund?s HIV/AIDS prevention efforts already underway in the African nations of Rwanda and Swaziland. So far, the campaign has made direct contributions to providing mothers with counseling and medication to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV. It has also funded the training of local doctors, physicians and teachers to help them prevent the further spread of the disease and provides school supplies to the children who are orphaned daily by the epidemic. ?We are giving consumers a choice to do good when buying products,? said Cordua. And many people have made the decision to buy (RED). The campaign has already contributed over $10 million to HIV/AIDS prevention in the two African nations. ?It appears to be an effective use of pre-existing advertising strategies,? said UCLA communication studies Professor Michael Suman. According to Suman, much of the campaigns? success is due to the consumer?s ability to justify spending. ?It can be used as an excuse for spending money and shopping more, by rationalizing that you are doing good for the world at the same time,? Suman said. With a wide range of products and providers, the campaign has presented shoppers with the conscious choice to contribute to the cause when selecting their purchases. The (RED) marketing team, headquartered in West Los Angeles, and individual companies have created innovative marketing campaigns targeted toward younger audiences. The partnership between mainstream celebrity spokespeople and some of the trendiest companies on the market aims to encourage shoppers to choose (RED) and play an active role in preventing the growing epidemic. For UCLA students rushing past flyer and clipboard-clad fundraisers as they race to class, it is easy to find an excuse not to make a contribution. However, the (Product) RED campaign makes getting involved as easy as a trip to the mall. ?The way to have the biggest impact is to choose (RED) when shopping,? Cordua said. With five years already guaranteed for most of (RED)?s current partners, Cordua said that the campaign has a much longer future ahead of it. ?We expect this to live on forever, way beyond five years,? she said. In the future, the campaign plans to add new partners and product lines to its cause ? some by as early as the end of the month. However, the success of the (RED) campaign is ultimately left in the hands of consumers. ?We can?t do this alone,? Cordua said. <a href='; target='_blank'>;