May 2006
Bono’s Red Alert
by Erin Baer
Try his latest AIDS-fighting scheme on for size
Rock icon, Nobel Peace Prize nominee and fashion mogul Bono will stop at nothing to fight AIDS. In January, he pointed a finger at the corporate world, saying “You, too” while signing them on to his new AIDS-themed brand, Product Red, an offshoot of his own global AIDS conglomerate, Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa (DATA). Companies release products sporting the Red label and send part of the profits to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria and TB. In March, American Express launched the Red card, and Converse laced up a high-top splattered with plus signs, as in HIV+. Products from the GAP and Giorgio Armani will appear later in 2006. “I think doing the Red thing, doing good, will turn out to be good business for them,” said Bono. Charge!
