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Bono unveils retail barrage against African plagues

By wire services
Published January 27, 2006

Bono unveiled a new push to fight HIV and AIDS in Africa, announcing a program by several companies to sell products under a brand called Red, with some of the revenue going to anti-AIDS programs.

"So, here we are, fat cats in the snow, and I say that as one," the U2 frontman said Thursday to laughs. Bono was flanked by Italian fashion tycoon Giorgio Armani and corporate executives who joined him for the announcement at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos.

Bono said a slice of the revenue would go to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The amount will vary by company and product

Among the companies providing Red-theme products are American Express, Converse footwear, the Gap and Armani. The products will include sports shoes, T-shirts and sunglasses.

The Rev. Al Sharpton wants an apology from the Cartoon Network after an episode of the edgy animated series The Boondocks portrayed the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. saying the N-word.

"Cartoon Network must apologize and also commit to pulling episodes that desecrate black historic figures," Sharpton, a civil rights activist and former Democratic presidential candidate, said in a statement.

The episode, The Return of the King, was shown Jan. 15, the day before the national holiday honoring the slain civil rights leader. It shows King emerging from a coma and using the word in an angry speech venting his frustration toward sexually explicit hip-hop videos.

The Cartoon Network released a statement defending itself and Boondocks' creator Aaron McGruder, saying the episode is a tribute to King and "in no way was meant to offend or "desecrate"' his name.

[Last modified January 27, 2006, 08:19:01]