(RED) : Press Coverage

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Kids Today: Think red and give back

Courtesy: Morgan Kath, The Sheboygan Press (US) - 5/16/2007

Who doesn't want an easy way to make a difference in the world?

With companies going Product Red for AIDS in Africa, all you have to do is buy one of their products and part of the profit goes to fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa through The Global Fund.

"It helps people less fortunate than us and people who have health problems," said Nicole Degaro, 13, of Sheboygan Falls.

Marketers see Red over Ad Age story

Courtesy: Michelle Henry, Toronto Star (Canada) - 3/11/2007

With Advertising Age does not necessarily come advertising wisdom. The editor of the New York-based magazine, considered the ad industry "bible," was inundated with a flurry of calls, criticisms and queries from around the world this week about its article slamming the ubiquitous (Product) Red campaign.

The Big Question: Does the RED campaign help big Western brands more than Africa?

Courtesy: Paul Vallely, The Independent (UK) - 3/09/2007

Why are doubts being raised?
The American advertising trade magazine Ad Age claimed in its cover story this week that the U2 front man's idea to raise money for the Global Fund to Fight Aids in Africa by selling RED products has "raised a meagre $18m [£9.3m]... in a year" despite a marketing outlay by Gap, Apple and Motorola and others estimated to be as high as $100m. The ratio between the marketing money spent and the amount raised for Africa was thus very poor, it claimed.

How much has RED raised to fight Aids?
The figure is actually $25m during the six months since the RED product range was launched in the United States last October. That is five times the amount given to the Global Fund by the private sector over the previous four years. Which is a pretty significant increase by anybody's standards.

Ah, but how much has it cost to raise it?
Certainly not the $100m Ad Age claimed. The biggest spender of the big brand names that have launched RED products was the clothing company Gap. Its total advertising budget for its RED launch was $7.8m. Even adding in the money spent by the other RED firms - Apple, Motorola, Converse sneakers and Giorgio Armani (the RED Amex card is only available in the UK not the US) - the total spend of advertising, RED sources suggest, was less than a third of the $100m cited in the magazine.

Ad Age, noticeably, cited no source for its $100m, which it presented with the weasel words that "some [people] estimate" without saying who, or how the figure was arrived at.

Lending a hand without a handout

Courtesy: Steve Vockrodt, Lawrence Journal-World (US) - 3/04/2007

Bobby Shriver says repeatedly he can't stand asking people for money. So Shriver's not asking people for money. But if people are going to spend money, Shriver hopes they spend it a certain way.

Bono in Africa

Courtesy: Damon Syson, Marie Claire (UK) - 7/06/2006

Even though Bono's Red initiative is pouring aid into Africa, cash is not the only solution. On a tour of Lesotho and Rwanda, the U2 singer discovers that it's strong, empowered women who are providing the continent's best chance of getting back on its feet.

Do your bit for charidee

Courtesy: Online Sun (UK) - 5/29/2006

IF you've not yet seen this little red beauty then pay attention. The MOTOROLA SLVR RED handset is a special-edition mobile phone designed to raise cash to help eliminate AIDS in Africa.

How ethical shopping is making business go green

Courtesy: Martin Hickman, The Independent (UK) - 5/29/2006

Companies are exploring the use of biodegradable plastics because it makes business sense for several reasons - all of them linked to the environment.

WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Armani Shows in London to launch RED Capsule Collection

Courtesy: Dolly Jones, Vogue.com (UK) - 5/25/2006

GIORGIO ARMANI announced this morning that he will show his spring/summer 2007 collection for Emporio Armani in London during Fashion Week in September.

Bono on tour

Courtesy: Steve Bloomfield, The Independent (UK) - 5/22/2006

If it's Sunday, this must be Nigeria. Bono, the rock star and anti-poverty campaigner who was guest-editing The Independent less than a week ago, is already past the halfway mark in a lightning tour of six African states. The U2 singer arrives today in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, having already visited Lesotho, Rwanda and Tanzania to highlight the benefits of his Product RED campaign. But the tour was almost aborted before it began.

In Mali village, Bono talks cotton trade

Courtesy: Lesley Wroughton, Reuters (US) - 5/22/2006

In this village about a two-hour drive from the capital Bamako, rock star Bono meets local chiefs and elders and says American cotton traded on the international market has an unfair advantage over Mali's.

Red all over at the Indie

Courtesy: Peter Preston, Guardian Unlimited (UK) - 5/21/2006

Another reason to be cheerful sees virtue (particularly Independent virtue) as its own reward. The Indie began it with teach-yourself-a-language giveaway courses, and reaped a reward that has kept its Sunday figures in particularly good trim - spurring the Mail to wheel out a week's worth of free Spanish-language CDs itself. The Guardian, reading education pointers on the Indie's wall, has been busy dishing out pretty sumptuous natural history posters all week. A little learning is a very helpful circulation-building thing. And then there's Africa...

With Bono the preacher man on his mission to Africa

Courtesy: Guardian Unlimited (UK) - 5/21/2006

Kamal Ahmed joins the singer on an extraordinary week as he travels through Lesotho and Rwanda, to cramped hospitals and plush hotels alike, in his campaign against poverty and the continent's Aids epidemic

Blair seeks help to fight Aids in Africa

Courtesy: Gaby Hinsliff/Ned Temko, Guardian Unlimited (UK) - 5/21/2006

Tony Blair is urging big business to do more to help save Africa from Aids ahead of a major summit tomorrow on funding drug treatment.

The circular reasoning scandal of HIV testing

Courtesy: Neville Hodgkinson, The Business (US) - 5/21/2006

IT WAS an icon of compassion, a sign you cared. To wear the red ribbon meant to express solidarity with HIV/Aids victims everywhere. It signified you knew the importance of antiviral drugs and HIV testing, Aids awareness and condoms – and of the urgent need for a vaccine.

Bono vows to keep up aid campaign for Africa

Courtesy: Lesley Wroughton, Reuters (US) - 5/18/2006

Rock star Bono on Wednesday pledged to maintain pressure on the United States and other wealthy nations to keep funds rolling for aid to Africa.

Bono vows to put pressure on G8 over Africa aid

Courtesy: Lesley Wroughton, Reuters (US) - 5/18/2006

Rock star Bono promised on Thursday to keep up the pressure on the United States and other wealthy nations to make good on their promises of increased aid for Africa and to keep the funds rolling in.

Bono, on Africa tour, visits Lesotho AIDS clinic

Courtesy: Lesley Wroughton, Reuters (US) - 5/17/2006

Irish rock star Bono, in Lesotho on an African tour, visited a rural AIDS clinic on Wednesday that he says shows how global resources can be used to provide HIV/AIDS sufferers with free testing and treatment.

In tiny kingdom, Bono presses new Africa agenda

Courtesy: Lesley Wroughton, Reuters (US) - 5/16/2006

Irish rock star Bono began a new African tour on Tuesday in Lesotho -- a tiny, impoverished kingdom he said embodied Africa's struggle for debt relief, better access to world markets and AIDS treatment.

Singer, Activist, Editor.

Courtesy: The Independent (UK) - 5/16/2006

Check out who is editing today's Independent newspaper in the UK.

Bono turns newspaper editor for the day

Courtesy: Paul Majendie, Scotsman.com (UK) - 5/16/2006

Rock star and Third World campaigner Bono turned guest newspaper editor on Tuesday with the Independent agreeing to give half its revenues for the day to fight AIDS in Africa.

The wisdom of King Giorgio

Courtesy: The Independent (UK) - 5/16/2006

She's the bright young star breaking all the rules. He's the grand master whose influence on the way we dress is felt around the world. In a rare interview, STELLA McCARTNEY asks Giorgio Armani about fur, fashion and film - and why RED is his new favourite colour

Still optimistic, but no sleep until G8 promises fulfilled

Courtesy: The Independent (UK) - 5/16/2006

Bono has a conference call with Tony Blair and Gordon Brown to discuss their shared vision for the prospects of the continent

(RED) phone unites rival telecom operators in battle against Aids

Courtesy: Martin Hickman, The Independent (UK) - 5/16/2006

Bono has launched a new mobile phone designed to help tackle Aids in Africa.

The Big Question: Can rock stars change the world?

Courtesy: Paul Vallely, The Independent (UK) - 5/16/2006

Do celebrities have the power to effect change?
No, according to our guest editor, Bono. And a lot of people agree with him. Even those people who most want the world changed. Indeed, perhaps especially them.

DOG AND BONO TO RAISE AIDS CASH

Courtesy: Ruki Sayid, Mirror (UK) - 5/16/2006

ROCK idol Bono took a new line on tackling Aids yesterday - as he unveiled a mobile phone to raise cash for his worldwide campaign. Ten pounds from each £149 red Motorola SLVR sold will go to the star's Global Fund.

(RED) phone unites rival telecom operators in battle against Aids

Courtesy: Martin Hickman, The Independent (UK) - 5/16/2006

Bono has launched a new mobile phone designed to help tackle Aids in Africa.

A red revolution on the high street

Courtesy: Paul Vallely, The Independent (UK) - 5/15/2006

"What we couldn't figure out was why people said they wanted to do something to help - and then didn't." So says Bobby Shriver who, as a member of the Kennedy clan, is about as near as America gets to an aristocrat. He is the man who, with the singer and activist Bono, dreamt up Product RED to harness the power of the high street in the fight against the greatest threat to health in human history - the Aids pandemic which every day claims the lives of 6,500 men, women and children in Africa alone.

Introducing Bono, the new editor of 'The Independent'

Courtesy: Cole Morton, The Independent (UK) - 5/14/2006

The Independent will get a new editor tomorrow. He is a short, talkative pop star who wears sunglasses indoors. But he can argue with economics professors and has persuaded right-wing American politicians to give billions of dollars to Africa.

Giorgio and Condoleezza, edited by Bono

Courtesy: The Independent (UK) - 5/13/2006

On Tuesday, The Independent is to turn RED, and half of all the revenues from that day's newspaper will be donated to fighting Aids in Africa. The paper will be edited by the U2 frontman and activist Bono, who, along with the leading American philanthropist, Bobby Shriver, set up the Product RED partnership.

Get ready for Bono, the editor...

Courtesy: Paul Vallely, The Independent (UK) - 5/5/2006

The Independent is to turn RED. This newspaper is becoming the first member of the media to join the partnership set up by the U2 singer, Bono, to raise money for the war on Aids in Africa.

Cred Label

Courtesy: Julie Robson, Fashion Telegraph (UK) - 3/20/2006

Noir is the latest range to demonstrate that you can be both stylish and eco-friendly

High-street retailers follow Body Shop into ethical trade

Courtesy: Richard Fletcher, Dan Drillsma-Milgrom, Times Online (UK) - 3/19/2006

WHEN Anita Roddick opened her first Body Shop store in Littlehampton, West Sussex, the decision to offer refillable bottles was not just about being green. The fact was that Roddick could not afford to buy any more bottles.

The Amex chief providing backing for Bono

Courtesy: Jane Martinson, Guardian Unlimited (UK) - 3/17/2006

American Express is part of a quartet of companies supporting the U2 singer's Aids in Africa campaign

Free Antiretroviral Therapy Key To Success Of AIDS Treatment In Developing Countries

Courtesy: Medical News Today (UK) - 3/13/2006

HIV-infected patients starting highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in developing countries have increased mortality rates in the first months on therapy compared with those in developed countries, according to a paper in this week's issue of The Lancet. The authors state that early diagnosis and assessment of treatment eligibility, coupled with free provision of HAART, might reduce this excess mortality.

Today the high street, tomorrow the world

Courtesy: Anna Millar, Scotsman.com (UK) - 3/12/2006

AS SARAH Cox piles juicy mangoes, rich-smelling coffee beans and brightly packaged chocolate into her basket, it's clear she brings more than her purse to the supermarket. "I suppose ethical consumerism, or this idea of the eco-savvy shopper, has grown at the same rate as my guilt about the inequality that exists throughout the world," the 29-year-old accounts manager admits.

Elle's RED Card

Courtesy: Kiki King, Eva Simpson & Caroline Hedley, Mirror - 3am (UK) - 3/2/2006

ELLE "The Body" Macpherson did her bit to fight HIV/Aids in Africa when she went shopping at Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge, London, yesterday.

The sex appeal of red

Courtesy: Tiffanie Darke, Times Online (UK) - 2/26/2006

The actress Scarlett Johansson is the sizzling face of Bono’s new ethical brand — doing the right thing has never been so glamorous

Shop with Bono

Courtesy: Times Online (UK) - 2/26/2006

A pair of sunnies, a T-shirt, some baseball boots — we’ll probably all buy them in some form this summer. So why not choose the ones that save lives, says Bono

View from Davos: Bono marketing his red badge of virtue

Courtesy: Matthew Bishop, The Daily Telegraph (UK) - 1/27/2006

Bono, the Irish rock star, is on to something with his new brand of virtue. If it is true that he has been feeling over-exposed after last year's headline-grabbing campaigning for the poor, he has an odd way of showing it.

Ethical shopping: The Red Revolution

Courtesy: Cahal Milmo, The Independent (UK) - 1/27/2006

Irish rock star Bono has persuaded some of the world's biggest companies to back his new weapon in the fight against poverty: a consumer brand with a conscience.

Bono sees Red with new 'social awareness' brand

Courtesy: Jim Stanton, The Scotsman (UK) - 1/26/2006

ROCK star and anti-poverty campaigner Bono is teaming up with some of the corporate world's biggest names to sell products such as T-shirts and sunglasses.

DAVOS-UPDATE 1-Bono backs 'Red' brand with bold anti-AIDS goal

Courtesy: Mark Trevelyan, Reuters (UK) - 1/26/2006

Rock star Bono joined three leading fashion groups and American Express on Thursday to launch Product Red, an ambitious branding and fund-raising scheme with the declared aim of beating AIDS.

Bono bets on Red to battle Aids

Courtesy: Tim Weber, BBC News (UK) - 1/26/2006

The rock star Bono has launched a new global brand, Product Red, with a share of profits to go to the fight against Aids in Africa.

Bono Unveils 'Red' Philanthropic Program

Courtesy: Dan Perry, Washington Post (USA) - 1/26/2006

Bono unveiled a new push to fight HIV and AIDS in Africa, announcing a new program by several companies to sell products under a brand called Red, with some of the revenue going to anti-AIDS programs.

A Red bandwagon

Courtesy: Los Angeles Times (USA) - 1/29/2006

IF IT WORKED FOR YELLOW, WHY NOT RED? Those yellow rubber "Livestrong" bracelets created to raise money for cyclist Lance Armstrong's cancer-fighting foundation quickly turned from a social statement to a fashion accessory. Rock star Bono has a similar idea, only bigger (and considerably more chic).