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Bono Takes to Red

The Red campaign, led by US singer Bono, is raising money for The Global Fund to fight the spread of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in Africa and is creating quite the buzz. Oprah even signed on and together the two went shopping in Chicago to promote sales of all those Red items we see sprouting up, lately on a daily basis.

The campaign e encourages shoppers to buy Red-branded goods, while manufacturers pledge to channel a portion of the profits to AIDS programs financed by the U.N.-backed Global Fund. The campaign has already raised about $10 million in Britain since its launch there earlier this year. just taking a look at the big names, Gap is offering T-shirts and jeans, Motorola a red cell phone, Converse a series of limited edition shoes, Apple a red iPod nano and Giorgio Armani a collection of clothes and accessories, all of which will carry the Red trademark and channel a percent of profits to the program.

The Global Fund was established in 2002 to channel government and private-sector funding into the fight against the big killer diseases of the developing world ? with a focus on Africa.