TOU(RED) - Hotel Cafe Tour hits the East Coast

The drive up the New Jersey turnpike will never be the same again—the trip from Philadelphia (I don’t know that I have enough street-cred to call it “Philly”) to New York was dotted with billboards, bus signs and benches baring the (RED) message and paving the way to a city full of energy, hope, and encouragement. Every square foot of New York ad-space and store front broadcasted Assu(RED), Hono(RED), Cente(RED), Desi(RED) or Inspi(RED). (RED) was every where we looked. I couldn’t walk a block without someone from our little troupe pointing at me saying, “Look Aubrey, it’s YOU!!” (My name and (RED) are now interchangeable on this tour.)

(RED) is now a ubiquitous force to be reckoned with. We sold out both of our New York shows, and every artist on this tour has pretty much over-whelmed the East coast with amazing music, charisma, and passion. And we’ve been received with equal amounts of enthusiasm. I cannot come close to counting the number of Desi(RED) t-shirts that come my way each night or of people begging for the (RED) iPod, asking when some of the GAP items will be restocked, or anxious to purchase a (RED) Motorola razr. Larger cities are generally a bit more privy to what’s happening with (RED), but the extent of our welcome was still unexpected. America has embraced (RED) in ways that I would never have been able to guess, except that I’ve had the privilege of seeing and feeling it first hand. It’s unreal.

By the way, (RED) and our little community of traveling minstrels are headed to Europe… Watch out!

Tom McRae and Joe Purdy. Chillin'.

Practicing in the parking lot.

Professor Gordon wearing (RED).

No comment, really.

CO-STAR(RED): a moblog for (YOU) RED

If you've scrolled down (BLOG) RED in the last hour, you might have seen a new feature that we've added to the sidebar: a moblog! Now you can send us your own (RED) photos and they'll go up in the sidebar. We've seen some great photos of you on MySpace wearing (RED) items and holding (RED) phones -- we want to collect them all here.

You're the star now -- show us how you've joined (RED)!

Speaking of (RED) stars, here's a great feature titled "Woman on the Verge," about Penelope Cruz in the Los Angeles Times.

Penelope has been an amazing friend of ours, appearing in ads for Gap (PRODUCT) RED and also on The Oprah Winfrey Show to tell the world why she supports (RED). She plays Raimunda, a working-class mother, in her new movie "Volver," in theaters today, which the LA Times calls "a career-making role" that Penelope plays "with an emotional depth that few might have trusted she could pull off." Penelope is a remarkable woman and actor, and we hope you enjoy learning more about her in this story, too!

Measu(red)

It's been just under 3 weeks since we launched (RED) in the U.S. and we already have some exciting news to report.

(PRODUCT) RED sales in the U.S. in just two and half weeks have raised enough money to:

Provide more than 10,000 men or women with ARV treatment for a year
(Note: These treatments are only a small portion of a person’s overall treatment and represent just one year of lifelong treatment)

Or

Provide more than 1 million peer educators with HIV training

Or

Provide a year’s worth of school materials and daily hot meals for more than 35,000 children orphaned by AIDS

Or

Provide more than 650,000 Rapid Tests which detect HIV and deliver instant test results.

We've also learned that the Gap (PRODUCT) RED INSPI(RED) T-shirt Oprah wore on her Oct 13th show was the best selling item across the entire Gap brand for the month of October.

The Motorola RED RAZR will hit store shelves nationwide at Sprint and all US Cellular stores in early November. Through limited distribution in Chicago in October, the RED RAZR has been selling at more than twenty times the average rate of RAZRs sold through US Cellular channels.

Check back tomorrow afternoon - I'll have some other great (PRODUCT) RED partner news to share with you.

Colette

motorola gap oprah product+red (RED) cellphones fashion t-shirt razr

A little girl named Denyse

All photos by Adele Sulcas / The Global Fund

Adele from The Global Fund sent us her quarterly report on (RED) last week, with details on grants sent to Rwanda and Swaziland. What struck me the most weren't numbers, however – it was a short story that Adele told about a little girl named Denyse.

On May 18, 2006, when Bono and a number of (RED) partners visited the pediatric ward of the central hospital in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, we met an 8-year-old girl named Denyse, who was a patient in the ward. At the time, Denyse was a tiny, inert, skeletal figure, lying motionless and silent in a bed while her distraught father, himself HIV-positive, looked on with desperation.

At the end of August, we returned to Kigali and met Denyse and her father again. This time, Denyse, a sprightly, smiling child neatly turned out in her school uniform, skipped along the pavement and ran towards us to say hello. Denyse began antiretroviral therapy, which keeps the virus that causes AIDS under control and helps people live normal lives, soon after we met her in May.

The result: a healthy, happy child getting on with school and being a normal little girl. This is what (RED) is helping Rwandans and Swazis to do – to return to health and to get on with life.

I asked Adele for some photos to show you all. Doesn’t she have the cutest smile?

Global+Fund AIDS Africa Rwanda Swaziland

Surround(RED)

What an amazing week! But before I get into that, here's some recommended reading:

1. Pin It Forward: Nicole posted her idea in the comments section of our SHA(RED) Ideas entry and it's such a good idea, I wanted to highlight it here. Thank you, Nicole! We'll check your blog frequently to see how it's going.
http://pinitforward.blogspot.com:

2. Tim is our (RED) friend who created the blog badge featured in SHA(RED) Ideas. I was so excited to publish the badge so you could all start using it (and in a hurry to get to a meeting) that I did not properly c(red)it Tim and link back to his blog. So here it is: http://flyingseeds.timothypost.com/

So about this week... after running a half marathon Sunday, I made my way to The Bridge School Benefit concert in Mountain View, CA and caught some amazing acoustic performances by Trent Reznor, Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam and of course, Neil Young. More exciting than the music was the fact that I could walk without a limp after having run 13 miles earlier that day AND the number of people at the concert who were wearing (RED) products. My friend, OJ, was wearing a DESI(RED) shirt and when we walked into the venue someone shouted out, "Hey! Thank you for buying that shirt -- it means you're doing good for the world!!" As we made our way to our "seats" on the lawn, I saw at least 8 other (RED) shirts and some bracelets. It was really exciting to see so much support and enthusiasm for (RED) - thank you. I also saw a woman who ran the marathon wearing a BO(RED) shirt at the finish line -- happy it didn't say INJU(RED) -- 26.2 miles -- congratulations!

Monday I had a meeting at Gap. As usual, I shared all of your feedback and questions. Gap mentioned that they're getting new shipments in stores as quickly as possible. If you're having trouble finding the (RED) products you're looking for, you can sign up for Gap's dedicated (RED) shirt waiting list here: http://www.gap.com/inspired. We also discussed some of the exciting things Gap has planned for (RED) later this year. As soon as we can share the news, we'll post it here and send out a newsletter! In the meantime, since I can't sit still, perhaps I'll train for another run.

(Colette)RED

Half Way There

So far, we’ve successfully blazed a (RED) trail through Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Spokane, Boise, Boulder, the Missouri side of Kansas City, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit, Louisville (pronounced “Lou-a-vull,” I’ve been told), Indianapolis, and just about every Super Wal-Mart and Grandma Somebody’s famous truck stop in between. We’ve been laid over here in Kentucky for a couple of days, due to an unfortunate, last minute cancellation in Lansing, but have managed to spend our time well. Apart from some expected, healthy levels of mischief and a taste or two of some local cuisine (for better or worse—I can’t say that I recommend chili atop of spaghetti), we’ve spent the majority of our time re-solidifying our little traveling circus of good-looking Samaritans. The Hotel Café Tour said goodbye (temporarily) to Schuyler Fisk in Minneapolis and Joe Purdy and Brian Wright in Kansas City; and although we have not been able to replace them, we’ve filled their bunks with equally amazing artists who are just as excited about (RED) and our fight against AIDS in Africa. Miho Hatori, Jim Bianco, Peter Searcy, Matt Costa, Tim Jones and Charlotte Martin have quickly adopted the (RED) manifesto and paradigm, and are as excited as the rest of us.

Colorado is inspi(RED)

Schuyler Fisk. We miss you! Come back!

Everyone on stage

Having woken up almost every day of the last three weeks in a new city, many of which I’ve never visited before, our country has begun to feel smaller and smaller to me. Every town, every region, every little sub-culture is just a few hours’ drive from the last, and not as different as we think it might be. I’ve been met by (RED) enthusiasts across America, and I feel that much closer to home every time someone comes forward as a part of the same community, fighting for the same cause.

Joe Purdy, me, Brian Wright

already (RED)!

Hotel+Cafe Joe+Purdy Matt+Costa RED music tour

SHA(RED) Ideas

Hi! I wanted to share these ideas sent in by fellow (BLOG) RED readers:

(RED) Bracelet:
14 year-old Kiri from San Francisco had a great idea -- she and her mom bought 35 (RED) beaded pins from Gap and created (RED) bracelets. Kiri writes, "The bracelets (pictured) are now a total hit at my school! Everyone wants one, and unlike us kids spending our money on stupid video games and stuff, we are now being in style and helping our world out."

(RED) Blog Badge:
We appreciate our fellow bloggers who are linking to (BLOG)RED. If you want to add some (RED) to your blog or webpage, Tim created this nice (BLOG) RED badge for us.

Click here to get the code needed to place the badge on your page.

Many thanks to Kiri and Tim for sharing their wonderful (RED) creations with us!

If you have a (RED) idea you'd like to share, feel free to post it here.

Talk to you soon!

Colette

The Color Wheel

Thank you!
Thank you!
Thank you!

Thank you for your feedback, thank you for your blog comments, thank you for sharing your (RED) shopping stories, thank you for shopping (RED). . . well, that's 4 "thank you"s (as opposed - or in addition - to the 3 I began with) and there are many more.

Those of you who have been reading this blog since we began posting in May know that we share your feedback with our partners. Well, no exception now. We've heard your pleas for products in Canada, Baby/Kids products, your questions, and your messages of support - we are discussing them within (RED) and with our partners. We'll post updates and answers as we have them.

People who don't like Mondays don't know YOU. Here are 5 (of many) things you did that turned my Monday (RED):

1. Bridget submitted this amazing video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixJzV-L480I
2. Then I watched Bridget's Reason I Made This Video video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPi6TjIiIak
3. Richard posted this blog: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/red_web.php
4. Alex turned part of his BlueOrganizer (RED). Read about it here: http://blog.adaptiveblue.com/ Get it here: http://www.adaptiveblue.com/
5. Many of you sha(red) your inspirational stories with us and more important, with each other

What will Tuesday bring?

Colette

(RED) shopping photos

Since Colette gave such an impressively detailed review of our (RED) launch day and shopping spree in her blog entry 2:48am Friday night/Saturday morning, I thought I'd append with some photos.

This sign stopped me dead on my tracks.
















I like Mike -- as an Apple employee, he was enthusiastic about (RED) and even posed with his Pocket Karma t-shirt and (RED) iPod for me :)










Gap's store design is stunning.




















People LOVED (RED)!!




Shopping Gap iPod Apple RED