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So... this whole Red Campaign has kicked off. This article sums up a bit more of it.       I gotta say, is it just me or is this a bunch of crap? I mean, it's great that companies are going to donate to the fight against AIDS in Africa and I believe this to be an extremely worthy cause, but isn't it kinda a joke with the companies that are doing it?       Let's start with The GAP. This multi-billion dollar company makes all of its clothing in sweatshops. While groups like, Global Exchange seem to be turning the tide, the fact is, people are still working horrid conditions to make your fucking khakis.       Okay, so what about Apple? Uh, yeah. They've been using Foxconn to make their iPods for years now and I'm not even going to link to these articles, since they were all the rage for awhile and really, I doubt much has changed. People are still working 12 hours a day, seven days a week, to bring you the most fashionable portable music player that they can't even afford to buy with one month's wages.       I'm not really going to go much further with this list, since you kinda get the point. Overall, yes, this is doing good, but the irony is blatant and it seems (like most charitable causes) it has been hijacked by marketing twats who see it is a "be the first to get onbaord and reap the reward" kind of thing. I could hardly see parallel retailers joining once one company in their market has joined, which would really suck, but unfortunately emphasize my point.       I mean, sure, go out and buy these RED items and feel like you're doing a little good, since you'd buy many of them anyways. But, whatever you do, don't think you're some holy savior like Gwenneth Paltrow. You're still doing bad and if it feels like you can't win, then stop buying this crap altogether and donate directly to charities who are working to stop problems like this. Afterall, there is a vested interest by companies at large to have a healthy Africa, since at some point, they may need a new third world point of production if the Asian currencies are revaluated at some point...