Product Red



Product Red, styled as  (  PRODUCT  )  RED ™, is a for-profit brand which is licensed to partner companies such as American Express, Apple Inc., Converse, Motorola,  Gap and Giorgio Armani. It is an initiative begun by U2's frontman, Bono, and Bobby Shriver of Debt AIDS Trade in Africa (DATA) to raise money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Bobby Shriver has been announced as the CEO of Product Red, whilst Bono is currently an active public spokesperson for the brand.

Each partner company creates a product with the Product Red logo. In return for the opportunity to increase their own revenue through the Product Red products they sell, a percentage of the profit is given to the Global Fund.

Product Red has been criticized for not having an impact proportional to the advertising investment and being much less efficient than direct charitable contribution.

Guiding principles
Product Red states that its main principles are:
 * To expand opportunities for the people of Africa
 * To respect its employees and ask its partners to do the same with their employees and the people who help make their products or deliver their services
 * To promote HIV/AIDS workplace policies and practices
 * To see the power of a community mobilized for hope, health and progress
 * To ask its partners to uphold the same principles

Products



 * American Express Red Card.
 * Gap is selling a line of clothing including a T-shirt made in the African country of Lesotho from African-grown cotton.
 * Converse is selling a shoe made from African mud-cloth.
 * Giorgio Armani has announced a line of products that include clothes, jewelry, perfume, and accessories.
 * Motorola has announced special editions of their SLVR, KRZR and RAZR mobile phones, with a 50% profit of each purchase going to the Global Fund. The Red RAZR was first launched with service by Sprint in November of 2006
 * The Independent newspaper is in partnership with Product Red.
 * The Hotel Café tour is presented by MySpace and Product Red.
 * Apple Inc. has released a special edition iPod nano and iPod shuffle with a Product Red theme, as well as a Red $25 iTunes gift card
 * NEED magazine is in partnership with Product Red.
 * Gap has shirts, bracelets, necklaces, pins, and candles where 50% of the proceeds go to help prevent HIV/ AIDS in Africa

Official links

 * Joinred.com - official website
 * Global Fund page on Product Red
 * Presentation by Product (RED)'s President USF MBA Podcast, 25 February 2007
 * Presentation by Product (RED)'s President USF MBA Podcast, 25 February 2007

Critiques

 * Shopping is Not Sharing CBS News, 17 October 2006
 * Why the new Amex card makes me see red Spiked Online, 28 September 2006
 * Costly Red Campaign Reaps Meager $18 Million Advertising Age, 5 March 2007 (registration required)
 * The Big Question: Does the RED campaign help big Western brands more than Africa? (rebuttal of Ad Age article) The Independent, 19 August 2007
 * Bobby Shriver's Letter to Advertising Age (rebuttal of Ad Age article) March 2007
 * Does Shopping for a Good Cause Really Help? Newsweek, 14 March 2007
 * http://www.buylesscrap.org/ The Buy (Less) campaign

Other links

 * Report on the Private Sector and Product Red

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