Rock star Bono is part of a corporate AIDS project |
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Published
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Sat, 28 Jan 2006 02:05
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DAVOS, Switzerland: Irish rock star Bono is joining forces with three leading fashion groups and American Express to launch Product Red, a branding and fund-raising scheme to combat AIDS.
Under the scheme, one per cent of money that customers spend on a new Amex card will go to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The fund helps half a million people in the treatment of AIDS and an equal number of children rendered orphans by the disease.
The new Amex Red Card has this written on its reverse: "This card is designed to eliminate HIV in Africa." The other partners in the project are Gap, Giorgio Armani and Converse, a subsidiary of Nike. They will contribute a portion of their profits from selected "Red-branded" goods to the fund. The goods include T-shirts, wraparound sunglasses and training shoes made from African mudcloth.
The scheme is to ensure adequate fund flow to fight the disease, by touching on the conscience of the high-spending western societies. Product Red chief executive Bobby Shriver said at the World Economic Forum that the sponsors sought out "iconic companies who make iconic products".
The participating companies are expected to roll out the Red brand in different markets at different stages. They will target Britain first, where they expect to influence some 4 million consumers to contribute. The card will be launched in Britain in March.
The sponsors did not reveal projections on how much money the scheme can raise. They also did not fix the proportion of sales from Red-branded consumer goods that would go to the Global Fund, saying this would depend on sales and on whether the products were sold directly or through a retailer.
Bono, on his part, clarified that the project is being driven by hard-headed business principles rather than by philanthropy.
Holding aloft the Red Card, the 45-year-old singer said, "Philanthropy is like hippy music, holding hands. Red is more like punk rock, hip-hop; this should feel like hard commerce. People see a world out of whack. They see the greatest health crisis in 600 years and they want to do the right thing, but they're not sure what that is. Red is about doing what you enjoy and doing good at the same time."
Meanwhile, some of the leading NGOs described the initiative as a cynical ploy that would prove to be counterproductive. These NGOs, working in the developing world, said the venture would only preserve the main causes of AIDS, like corrupt governments, by unintentionally providing them with valuable funds.
Philip Stevens, director of health policy at the International Policy Network, said such projects are counterproductive because they create perverse incentives. In countries such as Uganda there is evidence of systematic embezzlement of aid, which strengthens the governments that are largely responsible for the spread of the disease, he said.
Matthew McGregor of the War on Want campaign group said what people in developing countries want is a change of rules that keep them poor. Projects such as Product Red miss the point.
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