Fridae

Launched on Dec 1 in Singapore - the third country after the US and UK, the red Motorazr V3 is the first in the series of Moto Red products launched by Motorola as part of the global (Product) Red campaign.

With every sale of the Moto Red handset, US$17 will be contributed directly to the Global Fund. And US$17 is enough to buy medicine to keep an Aids patient alive for a year, says Rajesh Anandan, head of private sector partnerships for the local chapter of The Global Fund To Fight Aids, Tuberculosis And Malaria.

Anandan was in Singapore to launch the handset at a press conference last Friday with 14 local ambassadors including theatre director Beatrice Chia-Richmond along with several actors and other popular personalities.

Co-founded by U2 frontman/global anti-poverty campaigner Bono and philanthropist Robert Shriver, the (Product) Red project has gotten together a number of retailers and brands including Gap, Nike, Converse, Giorgio Armani, Apple Computer Inc. and American Express Co. to design customised red products where a portion of proceeds from the sale of these items will go to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Africa. All of the companies have contracted to promote the products for five years.

Apple will donate US$10 from each (Product) Red Special Edition iPod nano sold while American Express will pledge 1 percent of each purchase made with its red credit card. Gap, which has launched a (Product) Red collection including t-shirts, hoodies, jeans and tote bags, will donate 50% of the profits from sales of items from the collection.

Launched in the UK and the US in March this year, the project has since raised US$10 million.

In warning that the world was losing the fight against HIV/Aids - with 6,500 Africans dying of the disease every day - Bono hopes that profits from the venture will generate a "sustainable" flow of money to support the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria.

While the project has attracted criticism that the companies are using a deadly disease as a marketing vehicle to sell more clothes and electronics, (Product) Red developers have been upfront in saying that buyers should not confuse this objectives of the project with charity.

Developers say on the official web site, Joinred.com: "(RED) is not a charity. It's a commercial initiative designed to create awareness and a sustainable flow of money from the private sector into the Global Fund to fight the AIDS pandemic in Africa."

The campaign presents shoppers with the conscious choice to contribute to the cause when selecting their purchases.

"Our focus is really on creating a sustainable business model, and the only way to do that is to make it beneficial for the companies as well," said Julie Cordua, vice president of marketing for Product Red. "Because if it's something that makes good business sense for them, they're going to want to keep doing it."

Stressing that this was a commercial venture and not philanthropy, Bono who is known for his cause against poverty and humanitarian work in Africa, said in a BBC interview: "Philanthropy is like hippy music, holding hands. Red is more like punk rock, hip hop, this should feel like hard commerce."

The Red manifesto which is found on the official web site could not have been more persuasive: "(Red) is not a charity. It is simply a business model. You buy (Red) stuff. We get the money. Buy the pills and distribute them. They take the pills. Stay alive. And continue to take care of their families and contribute socially and economically in their communities.

"If they don't get the pills, they die. We don't want them to die. We want to give them the pills. And we can. And you can. And it's easy.

"All you have to do is upgrade your choice."

The red MOTORAZR V3 will be available before the end of 2006 in Singapore from an estimated price of S$298 without operator contract and S$88 with two-year operator contract. The phone will be available at StarHub and M1.