Motorola Inc. is the latest major marketer to sign onto rock star Bono's "Product Red" campaign to fight AIDS and other health problems in developing countries. Bono, lead singer for supergroup U2,
and Bobby Shriver, a record producer, a member of the Kennedy family and a city councilman in Santa Monica, Calif., launched Product Red in January. The idea is for marketers who join the initiative
to offer a red-colored product with a portion of sales earmarked for charity. Motorola, the world's second-largest mobile phone maker, will offer a red version of its Slvr, a model fashioned after its
popular Razr phone. The red Slvr will join a red American Express credit card; a Gap T-shirt made in Africa and available in red (and other colors); Armani sunglasses emblazoned with a Product Red
logo; and Converse Chuck Taylor All Star sneakers done in an African motif. Some profits from Product Red items go to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. For instance, 1 percent
of all consumer spending on the American Express red card flows to the fund. Motorola has been trying to contemporize its brand during the last several years through edgy advertising and marketing
associations with MTV and hip-hop artists, and observers say the link with Bono can only help boost Motorola's quest to further position its brand as hip.
advertisement
advertisement
Read the whole story at Chicago Tribune »
