The Liquid Muse

Do The Red Thing!

Being a pop-culture junkie, I admit that a large part of the information I ingest comes from places like The Jon Stewart Daily Show, Yahoo News headlines, The E! Network and Oprah. Today’s Oprah inspired me to share this info.

As we know, Bono is a huge advocate for helping Africans suffering from AIDS. According to him, in some African countries 1/3 of the population has AIDS. In Africa, 150,000 men, women and children die each month, or as he pointed out, “the equivalent of 2 World Trade Center (casualties) a day.” He explained that the situation in parts of Africa is so bad that children who actually make it to a hospital sometimes sleep three to a bed, and are dying of starvation – in the hospitals.

Bono (being a mega celebrity activist, Nobel Peace Prize nominee, and all) is one of the creators of a fundraiser of epic proportions. We (the fat, happy and rich-by-comparison American and European consumers) can now buy (RED) products, and an average of half the money goes to help provide food and medicine for Africans suffering from AIDS.

What does “red” stand for? Inspri(red), Admi(red), Empowe(red), Uncenso(red), Cente(red), Desi(red).

Some companies involved in this (RED) campaign include:

GAP - A denim jacket (modeled by Penelope Cruz) provides enough medicine to prevent 50 pregnant women from passing AIDS to their unborn babies. On the show Cruz stated, “When Bono called me, I was blown away by the idea… You can wear a T-shirt that will actually save somebody’s life.”

Proceeds from Christy Turlington’s outfit would help 58 pregnant women prevent the transmission of HIV to their unborn children. As a mother of two, Christy said, "It is unfathomable to think that women in Africa can’t provide medicine for their children."

CONVERSE - A pair of African print Converse (RED) sneakers gives an AIDS patient an entire month of anti-retroviral drugs.

Oprah and Bono check out the iPod Nano. For every purchased, one HIV positive child can be treated with pediatric drugs for two months.

MOTOROLA - One (RED) Bluetooth headset gives a child orphaned by AIDS hot meals and school supplies for one month—and 10 of them provide a year's worth of treatment for HIV/AIDS-related infections.

EMPORIO ARMANI - features T-shirts, sneakers and jeans and watches. Each shirt has an African symbol with meanings like "harmony" and "flight." One watch pays for one month of anti-retroviral treatment. Armani (RED)™ sunglasses also equal a year's supply of school supplies and hot food for an orphaned child.


Get involved with Bono, Oprah and join (RED) at: joinred.com