Product Red

Product Red

Product Red edition of the iPhone 14
Product type	Brand
Owner	Red (One Campaign)
Introduced	20 January 2006;18 years ago (2006-01-20)
Markets	Worldwide
Website	red.org

Product Red ^{[lower-alpha 1]} is a licensed brand by the company Red ^{[lower-alpha 2]} that seeks to engage the private sector in raising awareness and funds to help eliminate HIV/AIDS in eight African countries, namely Eswatini, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia. ^[1] It is licensed to partner companies including Apple Inc., Nike, American Express (UK), The Coca-Cola Company, Starbucks, Converse, Electronic Arts, Primark, Head, Buckaroo, Penguin Classics (UK & International), Gap, Armani, FIAT, Hallmark (US), SAP, Beats Electronics, and Supercell.

Contents

• The Global Fund
• Products
• Criticism
• Timeline
• See also
• Notes
• References
• Sources
• External links

The concept was founded in 2006 by U2 frontman and activist Bono, together with Bobby Shriver of the One Campaign and DATA. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is the recipient of Product Red's money.

As part of a new business model, each partner company creates a product with the Product Red logo. ^[2] In return for the opportunity to increase revenue through the Product Red license, up to 50%^{[ clarification needed ]} of profits gained by each partner is donated to the Global Fund. ^{[3] [ needs update ]} Such an amalgamation of humanitarian aid and for-profit businesses is one example of "ethical consumerism". In 2012, One Campaign acquired Red as a division of One. ^[4] Both organizations were co-founded by Bono and Shriver. ^[5]

Since 2020, Product Red has been used in the global fund to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Global Fund

Created in 2006, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria support large-scale prevention, treatment and care programs for these three infectious diseases. ^[6] Today, 20 percent of all international funding for HIV/AIDS-related programs, 69 percent for tuberculosis, and 65 percent for malaria worldwide comes from the Global Fund. ^[7] The concept of "performance-based funding" is central to the organization and only those grant recipients who can demonstrate measurable and effective results from the monies received will be able to receive continued financing. ^[8] All of the funds generated by Red partners and events goes to Global Fund programs that provide medical care and support services for people affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa. No overhead is taken by either Red or the Global Fund. Red is the largest private sector donor to the Global Fund, and has generated over $600 million for HIV programs in Africa as of July 2019. ^[9] In November 2013, Jony Ive and Marc Newson hosted an auction at Sotheby's to raise millions for the fund. ^{[10] [11]} The event was attended by major celebrities including Bono, The Edge, Hayden Panettiere, and Courtney Love. ^[12]

Products

Products include: ^[13]

• Bugaboo International. A design company that makes pushchairs for infants and toddlers. Bugaboo contributes 1% of its total revenue to The Global Fund. ^[14]
• American Express Red card. Launched in 2006. 1% of spending is donated to the Global Fund. ^[15]
• Gap sells a line of merchandise including T-shirts, jackets, scarves, gloves, jewelry, bags, and purses. Gap donates 50% of all Product Red profits directly to the Global Fund. ^[16]
• Converse is selling a shoe made from African mud cloth. ^[17]
• Giorgio Armani has announced a line of Emporio Armani products that include clothes, jewelry, perfume, and accessories. 40 percent of the gross profit goes to the Global Fund. ^[18]
• Motorola has announced special editions of their Slvr, Krzr and Razr mobile phones, with a 50% profit of each purchase going to the Global Fund. ^[19]
• Canon released a version of their SD990 camera along with a leather case in 2008/2009. Only 500 were produced.
• The Independent newspaper is in partnership with Product Red. this partnership was launched in May 2006 by publishing a special issue of the newspaper and 50% of the revenue of this issue was donated to the Global Fund. ^[20]
• The Hotel Café tour is presented by MySpace and Product Red.
• Apple Inc. released a special edition iPod Touch 5th generation with a Product Red theme. Subsequently, they have released several Product Red devices and accessories. On 29 October 2013, Apple created and donated a one-of-a-kind Red Mac Pro computer which was auctioned by Sotheby's at the Red Auction on 23 November 2013 for $977,000 (Sotheby's had estimated it would bring $40,000-60,000). ^[21] A one-of-a-kind pair of solid gold Apple EarPods were auctioned for $461,000. ^[22] Apple sold a Product Red iPhone XR and claims to have donated almost $250 million to the Global Fund. ^[23] The red iPhone 11, the red iPhone SE (2nd generation), the red iPhone 12, the red iPhone 13, the red iPhone SE (3rd generation), and the red iPhone 14 are also part of Product Red.
• Nike has released a special line of red shoelaces, with the profit going to the charity. Their motto is "Lace up, save lives." ^[24]
• Hallmark has introduced greeting cards that are Product Red. ^[25]
• In a partnership with Microsoft, Dell announced that it would manufacture versions of its computers (XPS One, XPS M1530, and XPS M1330) that would come with a Product Red version of Windows Vista Ultimate preinstalled. The company also released a Product Red printer. ^[26]
  • Microsoft would later release the Product Red version of Windows Vista Ultimate as a standalone product. ^[27]
• Girl Skateboard Company released a two-part deck series with a Product Red graphic. A share of the profit goes to the charities.
• Starbucks participated during their 2008 holiday promotion. For every beverage bought on December 1 (World AIDS Day), 5 pennies went to Product Red. Starbucks also offers the Red Card, and donates five pennies every time the card is used. ^[28]
• The Killers write a Christmas song every year, with the latest being "I'll Be Home For Christmas" and a compilation album of all their Christmas singles called "Don't Waste Your Wishes", in aid of Red. One hundred percent of profits are given to the charity. ^[29]
• Monster Cable made special edition of Beats by Dr. Dre Solo HD with name Solo HD Product Red. ^{[30] [31]}
• Carolina Bucci has created a special edition of her gold and silk Lucky bracelets. 50 percent of the profit goes directly to the Global Fund. ^[32]
• Tourneau created two special edition watches, with 15% of the retail price contributed to The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. ^[33]
• Belvedere vodka produces special edition Product Red bottles which is designed by South African Artist, Esther Mahlangu. A portion of the proceeds go to Product Red. ^[34]
• Head produces special Red tennis bags as part of the Product Red project. ^[35]
• In 2014, U2 released a charity single "Invisible", and a Super Bowl commercial to announce the partnership between Red and Bank of America. ^{[36] [37]}
• In 2014, some iOS apps and/or games, such as PewDiePie's Tuber Simulator , Angry Birds , Cut the Rope 2 , The Sims FreePlay and Clash of Clans added a Red update for a limited time (November 24 - December 7), in which, the 100% of the money spent on the app or making an In-App Purchase will go to the Global Fund. ^{[38] [39]}
• In 2017, Amazon created a Red limited edition of the Echo speaker to support the Global Fund. ^[40] In November 2020 a newer version of Echo Product Red was revealed. ^[41]

Criticism

This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(May 2020)

Product Red has been widely criticized for not having an effect proportional to the advertising investment, for being much less efficient than direct charitable contribution, ^[42] and for having a lack of transparency with regards to the amount of money going to charity as a percentage of every purchase. Some critics argue that a retail middleman between donor and charity is unnecessary; donors should just give. ^[43]

For example, some argued that Gap's website encouraged consumption of the products, thus encouraging companies to use the product for publicity rather than social responsibility. ^[44] While Product Red has helped give funds and attention to the problem, it does not form a relationship between the donors and recipients. Scholars argue that this sacrifices the purpose of movements such as Product Red. ^[45] Jessica Wirgau, a professor at Virginia Tech stated that, "Red not only misses the opportunity to promote civic engagement with its audience but also ... gives corporations the power to decide which causes should be supported and to what degree". ^[45]

Another critique is that Product Red's expansion into traditional fundraising techniques, such as art auctions, undermines its claim to be a different and more sustainable approach to raising money for AIDS. ^[46] Other critics have pointed out that its emphasis on funding treatment for AIDS sufferers meant that large amounts of the money will ultimately end up with pharmaceutical companies "unwilling to distribute their drugs for free". ^[47] Many accuse the campaign of profiting by using diseases as a marketing vehicle, ^[47] for being "cause branding" rather than corporate social responsibility. ^[48] In the Stanford Social Innovation Review , Mark Rosenman wrote that it was an "example of the corporate world aligning its operations with its central purpose of increasing shareholder profit, except this time it is being cloaked in the patina of philanthropy." ^[49]

The National Labor Committee for Worker and Human Rights criticized Product Red for its links with Gap, ^[50] which was historically a target of anti-sweatshop activists, although anti-sweatshop organization Labour Behind the Label states that Gap has "come further than many" ^[51] clothing companies to counter exploitation. ^[52] Gap's Product Red clothes are made in Lesotho rather than China, going beyond the requirements of Product Red. Labour Behind the Label criticized Product Red for not requiring more measures to protect the rights of the workers who make their products. ^[51]

Data released in 2007 by Advertising Age claimed retail participants in Product Red including Gap, Motorola and Apple had invested $100 million in advertising and raised only $18 million for The Global Fund. ^[42] In July 2010, however, Red claimed to have raised over $150 million. ^[53]

In an attempt to combat the critics, particularly regarding Product Red's Transparency, around 2008, they implemented a calculator to show consumers how many doses of treatment would be received with the purchase of a Red Product. ^[54] With this, some have stated that, "the campaign offers the illusion of activism without requiring behavioral changes or political engagement". While these critics show that there are negative aspects of this program, they also state that "it finds a way to generate something positive out of the currently existent system". ^[54]

Timeline

See also

• The Lazarus Effect
• Cause marketing
• The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

Notes

Related Research Articles

HIV/AIDS originated in the early 20th century and has become a major public health concern and cause of death in many countries. AIDS rates vary significantly between countries, with the majority of cases concentrated in Southern Africa. Although the continent is home to about 15.2 percent of the world's population, more than two-thirds of the total population infected worldwide – approximately 35 million people – were Africans, of whom around 1 million have already died. Eastern and Southern Africa alone accounted for an estimate of 60 percent of all people living with HIV and 100 percent of all AIDS deaths in 2011. The countries of Eastern and Southern Africa are most affected, leading to raised death rates and lowered life expectancy among adults between the ages of 20 and 49 by about twenty years. Furthermore, life expectancy in many parts of Africa is declining, largely as a result of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, with life-expectancy in some countries reaching as low as thirty-nine years.

The United States President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is the global health funding by the United States to address the global HIV/AIDS epidemic and help save the lives of those suffering from the disease. The U.S. allocation of over $110 billion marks the largest investment by any country has ever made towards combating a single disease. Launched by U.S. President George W. Bush in 2003, as of May 2020, PEPFAR has provided cumulative funding for HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention, and research since its inception, making it the largest global health program focused on a single disease in history until the COVID-19 pandemic. PEPFAR is implemented by a combination of U.S. government agencies in over 50 countries and overseen by the Global AIDS Coordinator at the United States Department of State. As of 2023, PEPFAR has saved over 25 million lives, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is an international financing and partnership organization that aims to "attract, leverage and invest additional resources to end the epidemics of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria to support attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations". This multistakeholder international organization maintains its secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland. The organization began operations in January 2002. Microsoft founder Bill Gates was one of the first donors to provide seed money for the partnership. From January 2006 it has benefited from certain US Privileges, Exemptions, and Immunities under executive order 13395, which conferred International Organizations Immunities Act status on it.

The European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) is a partnership between the European Union (EU), Norway, Switzerland and developing countries and other donors, as well as the pharmaceutical industry, to enable clinical trials and the development of new medicines and vaccines against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. The need for global action against these diseases in order to promote poverty reduction has been recognised by the United Nations, the G8, and the African Union, and the program envisioned the provision of €600 million for the period 2003–2007 in order to translate medical research results into clinical applications relevant to the needs of developing countries.

Virgin Unite is the working name of The Virgin Foundation, the independent charitable arm of the Virgin Group. Created by Richard Branson and Virgin employees in September 2004, Virgin Unite pools volunteering efforts from across the Virgin Group and its hundreds of subsidiaries and associated companies to grow the efforts of smaller grassroots charitable organizations. Partnered with more than a dozen charities worldwide the company also provides a resource through the Internet by serving as an online donation centre for those wanting to contribute.

Mark R. Dybul is an American diplomat, physician and medical researcher. He served as the executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria from 2012 until 2017. From 2021 to Oct 2024, he was the CEO of Renovaro Biosciences. Since 2022, he is the Board Chairperson of Purpose Africa. He is also a Georgetown University professor in the Department of Medicine at the Medical Center and a senior advisor at the Center for Global Health Practice and Impact. He is a member of the Global Health Initiative faculty committee.

Available healthcare and health status in Sierra Leone is rated very poorly. Globally, infant and maternal mortality rates remain among the highest. The major causes of illness within the country are preventable with modern technology and medical advances. Most deaths within the country are attributed to nutritional deficiencies, lack of access to clean water, pneumonia, diarrheal diseases, anemia, malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.

The Federal government of the United States requires certain non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that receive federal anti-HIV/AIDS or anti-trafficking funds to adopt an organization-wide policy opposing prostitution and sex-trafficking. This requirement, known as the anti-prostitution pledge, has been in place since 2003.

(RED)Wire is an online magazine and music service created by Bono and Bobby Shriver. It is a part of the broader Product RED organization, which serves to work with corporations who are contracted to give a percentage of their profits for particular products to the Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa. (RED)Wire was created on World AIDS Day on December 1, 2006. Each issue contains an exclusive song from a major artist and a "spotlight" song from an up-and-coming artist, as well as other non-music media, such as video clips, poems, and so on.

FIND is a global health non-profit based in Geneva, Switzerland. FIND functions as a product development partnership, engaging in active collaboration with over 150 partners to facilitate the development, evaluation, and implementation of diagnostic tests for poverty-related diseases. The organisation's Geneva headquarters are in Campus Biotech. Country offices are located in New Delhi, India; Cape Town, South Africa; and Hanoi, Viet Nam.

The Millennium Foundation for Innovative Finance for Health is an independent, non-profit Swiss organization, established in November 2008 in order to create new ways to finance health systems in low- and middle-income countries. Based in Geneva, Switzerland, the Millennium Foundation aims to ensure that international commitments on improving health care are met through the development of innovative financing projects. Its first such project – called MassiveGood – was launched on 4 March, and will give travelers the possibility to add a $2, £2 or €2 micro-contribution to the purchase of a travel reservation, with all proceeds going to the fight against HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

Innovative financing refers to a range of non-traditional mechanisms to raise funds for development aid through "innovative" projects such as micro-contributions, taxes, public-private partnerships and market-based financial transactions.

The Born HIV Free campaign was created by the Global Fund to mobilize public support for the organizations work and for "a world where no child is born with HIV by 2015." This campaign was originated and supported by Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, a Global Fund Ambassador. The Global Fund called this "one of the most ambitious campaigns of its kind," in its 2010 news release.

The Lazarus Effect is a 2010 documentary film about the positive impact of free antiretroviral drug therapy on HIV/AIDS patients in Africa. It was directed by Lance Bangs, and executive produced by Spike Jonze, after an organizer from AIDS awareness group Red suggested the project to them. The film features patients and medical staff in Zambia speaking about their experiences and was produced by Red and HBO. It was screened on HBO and Channel 4 in May 2010, and it is also available on YouTube.

Michel Kazatchkine is a French physician, diplomat and advocate who is best known for his work in international AIDS treatment issues. From February 2007 to March 2012 he was director of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. On July 20, 2012, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed him as his United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) is a Unitaid-backed international organisation founded in July 2010, based in Geneva, Switzerland. Its public health driven business model aims to lower the prices of HIV, tuberculosis and hepatitis C medicines and facilitate the development of better-adapted HIV treatments through voluntary licensing and patent pooling. Its goal is to improve access to affordable and appropriate HIV, hepatitis C and tuberculosis medicines in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). In May 2020, the MPP become an implementing partner of the WHO's Covid-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP).

.hiv is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) proposed by the Berlin-based nonprofit dotHIV and owned by Uniregistry as of September 2014. It is the first open charitable gTLD and its ICANN designation states that the domain's operator is precluded from making a profit. Funds raised from .hiv domain sales will initially benefit projects to increase access to HIV/AIDS treatment in Rwanda, South Africa, Turkey, and the United States.

Global AIDS and Tuberculosis Relief Act of 2000 or Global AIDS Research and Relief Act of 2000 is a United States federal law establishing the World Bank AIDS Trust Fund for the care and prevention of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in overseas continents supporting substantial populations. The Act of Congress endorsed the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and International Development Association to govern the financial fund for the global opportunistic infection epidemics.

Dr. Winnie Mpanju-Shumbusho is a Tanzanian paediatrician and public health leader who until December 31, 2015, served as World Health Organization (WHO) Assistant Director General for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases based in Geneva, Switzerland. From 2016 to 2019, she served as board chair of RBM Partnership To End Malaria. Before joining WHO in 1999, Mpanju-Shumbusho was Director General of The East, Central and Southern African Health Community (ECSA-HC) formerly known as the Commonwealth Regional Health Community for East, Central and Southern Africa (CRHC-ECSA).

The United States is the largest donor of multilateral global health funds. According to the Office of Management and Budget, the U.S. government contributes <1% of the federal budget for foreign aid including global health activities. In 2023, the U.S. contributed 12.9 billion USD towards global health activities across several health verticals including HIV, Tuberculosis, Malaria and COVID-19.

References

Sources

• Tim Weber (2006). "Bono bets on Red to battle Aids". BBC. Retrieved February 26, 2006.
• Motorola Press Release Retrieved May 15, 2006.

External links

• Official website