(PRODUCT) RED makes a big promise: Buy the right cell phone, iPod or T-shirt and help eliminate AIDS in Africa.

In 2006, more than 2.1 million people died from AIDS in Africa, according to the United Nations and the World Health Organization. Another 25 million people are estimated to be living with HIV in Africa.

The idea that buying (PRODUCT) RED gear could save some of these lives makes me want to buy nothing but (PRODUCT) RED. But knowing all the profits won't go to the cause — that more could and always will need to be done — is discouraging.

(PRODUCT) RED, a Bono-backed effort to provide a sustainable source of funding for AIDS elimination efforts, made its U.S. debut in October. It's not a charity or human rights organization. It is a business model.

Proceeds from (PRODUCT) RED purchases are used to buy and distribute antiretroviral drugs to HIV and AIDS patients in Africa, operate orphanages and implement HIV prevention programs.

Buy a $199 (PRODUCT) RED iPod nano, and $10 will be donated to the Global Fund, an international organization designed to funnel money toward AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria prevention efforts. Buy a (PRODUCT) RED Motorola phone from Sprint (regular retail price $259), and $17 will go to the Global Fund.

I wonder — and I'm not alone — why not donate the money directly to the cause? That way administrative costs could be slashed and more lives could potentially be saved.

The Independent, a British publication, answers my question. “Most people wouldn't give the cost of a new iPod to the Global Fund,” it says. “Some idealists might hope so ..... This is a rather romantic, and American, notion.”
I guess I'm a romantic, idealistic American.

So far, (PRODUCT) RED has donated $25 million toward AIDS treatment in Africa, the Independent reports, giving about 160,000 Africans access to potentially life-saving medications. The figure is five times what the private sector gave to the Global Fund during the past four years.

“When consumers are offered this choice and the products meet their needs, they will choose (RED) ..... then more brands will choose to become (RED) because it will make good business sense, and more lives will be saved,” (PRODUCT) RED says.

No one I know has bought (PRODUCT) RED because they were interested in fighting AIDS in Africa. They bought the items simply because they wanted them.

In the process of fulfilling their first-world wants, they did something good for a third-world population in need.

Corporations may have increased their profits along the way, but consumerism — in this case — seems to have the potential for making a significant contribution to the world war on AIDS.