PUT IT ALL ON RED!!!Bono in AfricaThe Oprah ShowGAP T-ShirtsConverse ShoesOprah and Bono(RED)™ was created by Bono and Bobby Shriver to empower consumers to shop and do good at the same time. A portion of profits from the sale of (RED)™ branded products goes to The Global Fund to help women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa, providing access to education, nutrition, counseling, medical services, and the two pills a day they need to help them stay alive.
The Global Fund is the world's leading funder of programs to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, which kill over 6 million people per year.The Gap is introducing Gap (PRODUCT) RED™—a new, limited collection of clothing and accessories for men and women designed to help eliminate AIDS in Africa. As part of Gap's global partnership with (PRODUCT) RED™,
half of the profits from sales of the Gap (PRODUCT) RED™Collection will go to The Global Fund to finance programs that help women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa.Motorola is introducing the new red MOTORAZR V3m.
The red MOTORAZR V3m was designed to help eliminate AIDS in Africa.The iPod nano (PRODUCT) RED™Special Edition holds up to 1,000 songs, 25,000 photos, and a little hope because
$10 from every iPod nano (PRODUCT) RED™sold goes directly to the Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa.Emporio Armani is a proud partner of (PRODUCT) RED™.This pioneering initiative will raise money and awareness for The Global Fund through the sales of a RED-branded capsule collection designed by Giorgio Armani.
Over the next five years, 40 percent of the gross profits from (Emporio Armani) RED will go directly to eradicate AIDS in Africa.It's just a little, red eyelet, but it's the mark of a big idea.
That single red eyelet at the top of each pair of Converse (PRODUCT) RED™ sneakers signifies participation in (RED)™, a program designed to help fight AIDS in Africa.Clothes are usually just fashion statements, but not today. "Clothes are usually not important or significant, they usually just cover your body, but
I am wearing the most important T-shirt I've ever worn in my life. I love this so much I bought one for every person in this audience," Oprah says. "This red T is a revolutionary idea dreamed up by a man I call the reigning king of hope, and he just may be the coolest guy on the planet—Bono!"
(RED)™ is a revolutionary program designed to eliminate AIDS in Africa. "Lots of people here in the United States have been trying to deal with the problems of Africa in a very serious way," Bono says. "But not everybody has the time to be an activist or put on their marching boots. So we said, 'How are we going to get the shopping malls involved? How are we going to get to where people live and shop…?'"
By buying a (RED) brand T-shirt, a pair of jeans or even a cell phone, you can help save lives. Part of your purchase will be donated to The Global Fund to help those who need it most. Just the T-shirts that the audience is wearing today will provide enough medication to prevent transmission of HIV from mother to child for over 14,000 pregnant women.
"In some countries over a third of the people are HIV positive. Can you imagine that? A third of this audience is sitting there and they know they're going to die," Bono says. "We have these drugs. And they're not that expensive. We think it's a very American thing, it's a very European thing, to say, 'Look, these people are going to die; they don't need to die.' Two Twin Towers a day. A tsunami a month. One hundred fifty thousand Africans die of a preventable, treatable disease every month. They don't have to. And we think the Oprah kind of people will just not have it—they'll do the right thing, they'll do the (RED) thing."
Bono is using his passion to try to change the world. Does he ever get overwhelmed because of the need in Africa? "Yes, you get overwhelmed with the size of these problems and you think can we do something about it?" Bono says. "But I am really [convinced] that this generation, our generation, can be the generation to say 'no' to extreme poverty, or what I call 'stupid' poverty."
Bono recently visited Lesotho, Africa, where they make the signature Gap (PRODUCT) RED™ T-shirts. "You have a situation where most of those people in there are not aware that drugs are on the way," Bono says. "A third of them at this point are going to die, as they see it. "How do you go to work when you think you're going to die?"The area has 150,000 people and one clinic. One doctor or nurse does the job of 10. Bono meets children taking complex AIDS medication who don't have enough money for food and are even starving in hospitals. (RED)™ will give teens like Angelique access to proper medication and a chance at a better life. "I would have died and no one would remember me, but I am alive because I got the medicine," Angelique says. "To have people who care and help us, I send a message of love to each of them. We have a better dream for us and a better future and that gives us hope."
Until we meet again.....Greetings and Salutations......from the Planet.
Off to the GAP to buy a couple of those T-Shirts!
Tranquillity Base................out.
