December 1st marked World AIDS day. A major part of the day was the Product Red campaign launched by philanthropist Bono of the band U2. In the campaign, corporations donate a significant portion of the sale of items labelled as ‘Red’ to help fight HIV/AIDS. It is a way to funnel the excessive consumerism of the west into helping alleviate the crisis. While the intent of the Product Red campaign is beyond question, does the end justify the means?

The companies that are involved in the Product Red include the GAP, Motorola, Armani, Converse, American Express and Apple. The companies promote products that are labelled as Red products. Often these products are manufactured or contain material that was produced in Africa, for example Converse is selling a shoe that is made from African mud-cloth. One of the guiding principles of the campaign is that the products that are labelled Red are to respect employees and the environment.

While the intent of the Red Products is without reproach, what about the other products that these companies produce? Women and children often manufacture the products of GAP, Motorola, Armani, Converse, and Apple in Asian countries for pittance wages. Asia has one of the largest growing AIDS epidemics. India has the largest population in the world that lives with HIV/AIDS, China and Thailand have large numbers of people living with AIDS. Annually, there are an additional 960 000 people infected with AIDS in Asian countries.

Poverty is a major reason why the AIDS epidemic is so prevalent in Africa, but poverty is also a major issue in Asian countries. Bono has stated that the West is going to consume anyway, so the aim is to make use of that reality. But is it appropriate to market companies as helping one part of the world, while they exploit another? What we need to do is end exploitation worldwide, not enable it, in the words of Bono, “how long, how long must we sing this song…”


 

Dave Vasey is an Environmental Technologist who graduated from Durham College in 2001. Currently Dave is studying at the Faculty of Earth, Environment and Resources at the University of Manitoba.