A variety of products produced by Converse, Gap, American Express, Motorola and Armani will be sold under a single brand name--Red--with part of the profits donated to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria. The campaign was created by the musician Bono and Bobby Shriver, a California politician and member of the Kennedy family. "Red is one of the first major efforts to tap more
Americans to contribute to fighting AIDS a continent away," says Bill Gates, the Microsoft chairman who has made fighting AIDS a center of his own philanthropy. "And they can do so simply, just by
switching their cell phone or buying some of the clothing that's part of the Red line." The Global Fund and Red say they intend for the companies, which are committed to selling the products for at
least five years, to pocket a profit on Red products. Red products have been in stores in Britain since February; they will appear in the U.S. this month. The retailers selling Red items have gone to
great lengths to link the products to Africa. Gap has produced several of its Red items at its factory in Lesotho. Motorola is manufacturing some of its Red phones in Nigeria. And Converse has
incorporated African themes into the line, including one shoe that is made of Mali mud cloth.
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