Bono, Shriver launch brand to fund HIV/AIDS fight

Jan 26, 2006, 19:59 GMT

Irish rock star Bono presents new \'Product RED\' products during the World Economic Forum WEF in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday, 26 January 2006. \'Product RED\' is an economic initiative designed to sustain help to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The WEF gathers corporate and political heads as well as prominent figures of showbusiness and sports to talk about the state of the world, with special emphasis on India and China. EPA/LAURENT GILLIERON

Davos - Irish rock musician and poverty campaigner Bono and US philanthropist Bobby Shriver launched a new product brand at the World Economic Forum meeting Thursday that aims to help fund the global fight against HIV/AIDS.

Product RED aims to have a range of specifically-designed products go on sale later this year. A portion of the profits is to go the UN's Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

International brands including Converse, Gap, Giorgio Armani and American Express were the first companies to take up the initiative, and the top men from each company were present at the launch in Davos, Switzerland.

'Desire and virtue aren't always contradictory,' Bono said at a press conference. 'We need to ride in the wakes of these companies.'

Shriver, chairman of DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa), which he formed in 2000 with Bono, and now also the chief executive of RED, said he had been trying to get private enterprises to give more money for some time, and this is the perfect way to do it.

'Private-sector funding has been an issue, and I still can't believe we have a commitment to ending HIV/AIDS in Africa on the back of a credit card,' he said.

'Our partners expect they will broaden their own customer base and increase customer loyalty,' he continued.

The two men believe that this initiative signals a new phase in raising funds for a cause that is no longer able to capture the public attention.

'Six thousand five hundred people are dying in Africa every day, but we can't get on the TV to talk about it any more,' said Bono. 'We're losing the war against HIV/AIDS, and I don't like to lose. I want to work with winners.'

The companies are initially signed up for five years, but Shriver and Bono, who brought the firms onboard through a series of meetings, believe the project is sustainable in the long-term.

Shriver, brother-in-law to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, said it was impossible to figure out how much money the brand would bring in, but said that up to 40 per cent of the profits could be donated to the fund.

Any money would be welcomed by Professor Richard Feachem, the executive director of the global fund.

'The global fund has received 4.7 billion dollars of funding so far, but only 5 million dollars of this was from private sources,' he said. 'Now we will have extra money and raise awareness.'

The products will all be clearly branded with the RED logo.

Converse is producing a pair of trainers made entirely in Africa from African mud-cloth. Armani is releasing a pair of RED sunglasses in February, and Gap plans to sell a range of T-shirts in Britain from March 1.

© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur