Last Saturday, Spain’s King Juan Carlos made headlines at the Ibero-American summit for asking Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, “Why don’t you shut up?” The heated and slightly comical exchange occurred after Chavez called former Spanish Prime Minister Azner a “fascist,” an especially sensitive accusation considering that Juan Carlos’s immediate predecessor was the fascist dictator Francisco Franco. The irony of the situation is that, by insulting Chavez, the Spanish monarch exercised his right to free speech, a right that he does not fully extend to his own citizens.
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I have recently noticed that Gap has advertisements for Product (RED) in their windows for the second time this year. Don’t all of the movie stars look sexy in their nice red T-shirts? Product (RED) is a collection of corporations with popular brands — Gap, Motorola, Converse, Emporio Armani, etc. — that have agreed to give half of the profits they receive from selling the (RED) merchandise to the Global Fund. This money is then used to buy antiretroviral drugs for women and children with HIV/AIDS in Africa. The ad campaign for Product (RED), which was founded by Bono and friends, claims that by buying the products associated with the campaign, you will be a “good-looking Samaritan.” What a deal, not only sexy, but altruistic also!
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