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ONE and (RED) Launch the (2015)QUILT: A Digital Quilt to Fight AIDS

NEW YORK and WASHINGTON– This World AIDS Day, December 1, ONE and (RED) will join together to launch the (2015)QUILT (www.2015quilt.com) – a digital AIDS quilt designed to bring people from all over the world together to fight for a historic achievement – the delivery of the first AIDS free generation in the more than 30 years since the virus was first diagnosed.   Created in partnership with @radical.media, the (2015)QUILT lets people express their support for the fight against AIDS. Anyone can create a quilt panel by using the simple online tool and then share it with their friends and family through Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Before uploading their panel, users will be asked to make a specific commitment that will help bring about the beginning of the end of the epidemic. Options include:

  • Join ONE (www.one.org), invite your friends to join ONE and together press policymakers to act
  • Buy one (RED) gift this holiday (http://www.joinred.com/red/#shopred)
  • Make your own commitment to help deliver an AIDS free generationby 2015

A broad spectrum of well-known leaders in entertainment, media and politics have already signed up to be part of the (2015)QUILT, including Tyra Banks, Tom Brady, The Jonas Brothers, Gisele Bundchen, Christy Turlington Burns, Barbara Bush, Chelsea Clinton, Coldplay, My Darkest Days, Ellen DeGeneres, Estelle, A Fine Frenzy, Zach Galifianakis, Arianna Grande, Amy Grant, Ashley Greene, Josh Groban, Jenna Bush Hager, Paris Hilton, Perez Hilton, Kate Hudson, Jessie J., Kerli, The Killers, Annie Lennox, Jane Lynch, Maroon 5, Sienna Miller, Brandy Norwood, Jamie Oliver, Parachute, Snow Patrol, Sean Paul, The Black Eyed Peas, Simple Plan, Jeremy Piven, Gabourey Sidibe, Martha Stewart, Neon Trees, Yu Tsai, U2, Anne V., Pete Wentz and Oprah Winfrey. In addition, (RED) partners supporting the (2015)QUILT include Proud Partners: Apple, Beats by Dr. Dre, Belvedere, Bugaboo, Converse, Dell, Gap, Nike, Penfolds and Starbucks and Special Edition Partners: FEED, Girl Skateboards, Mophie, Nanda Home, Shazam and Solange Azagury Partridge.   The (2015)QUILT draws its inspiration from the internationally celebrated AIDS Memorial Quilt. The Quilt, which began in 1987 with a single panel and a single name, now contains more than 94,000 names, weighs 54 tons and is the largest community art project in the world. Throughout its history, The Quilt has been used to fight prejudice, to raise awareness and to transform apathy into advocacy and indifference into compassion.   Today, the world stands at a critical juncture in the fight against AIDS. By 2015, we can virtually end the transmission of HIV from moms to their babies, provide expanded access to treatment for 15 million people and implement innovative prevention techniques to drastically reduce new infections. Together these three milestones could usher in ‘the beginning of the end of AIDS.’   ONE, the nonpartisan advocacy organization cofounded by Bono and other activists, has been fighting AIDS and extreme poverty since its inception 10 years ago by pressing government leaders in the U.S. and other world capitals to support smart, effective programs that are saving lives in the poorest parts of the planet. Today, more than 6.6 million people are on life-saving AIDS-drugs, up from 100,000 in 2002, thanks to these programs. (RED), cofounded by Bono and Bobby Shriver in 2006, leverages corporate and consumer power in the fight against AIDS, and has to date delivered more than $180 million to the Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa.   The pledge of action is an important feature of the (2015)QUILT. Anyone who adds a pledge to the (2015)QUILT will receive a free song from The Killers. Since 2006, The Killers have recorded a Christmas song for (RED); (2015)QUILT participants who make a pledge will be able to choose from one of six Killers tracks, including this year’s song ‘The Cowboys’ Christmas Ball.’ All songs will be available for sale later on this week on iTunes as singles or as an exclusive EP with proceeds going to fight AIDS.

“More than one thousand babies are born every day with HIV – born with a death sentence on their heads – when this is preventable with access to the right drugs,” said Deborah Dugan, CEO of (RED). “An AIDS free generation is within our reach, but it will take a mass movement to achieve it. The (2015)QUILT has the power to galvanize people’s voices and action around this goal, using social media as the propellant.”   “After 30 years and 30 million funerals, we have the potential to finally turn the tide on AIDS,” said Michael Elliott, president and CEO of ONE. “With the right scale-up of effective treatment and prevention programs, we can prevent babies from being born with HIV, keep more people alive through treatment, and simultaneously reduce the number of people becoming newly infected with HIV.”   This is among the first pro-social campaigns to leverage the latest Facebook Platform technologies that create a live connection between the user and the app so he or she can update their profile with activity as they go. The (2015)QUILT is built in HTML5 and is a beautiful, interactive database of contributions, which can be searched by name, friends’ activity, pledge commitments and geography. When users hover over a panel, they can see the participant’s name, panel and pledge commitment. Promotion for the quilt includes a pro bono advertising and media campaign created by Hill Holliday, and a PSA created by Viacom. The Hill Holliday-created ads will roll out across leading digital platforms, broadcast networks and print publications, including AOL, Twitter, Viacom, StumbleUpon, Klout, The Fader and O Magazine and the Chicago Sun Times, among others.   About ONE ONE is a global grassroots advocacy and campaigning organization backed by more than 2.5 million people that fights extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa, by raising public awareness and pressing political leaders to support smart, effective policies and programs that are saving lives, helping to put kids in school and improving futures. For more information, please visit www.ONE.org.   About (RED)TMand (PRODUCT)REDTM (RED) engages business and consumer power in the fight against AIDS. To date, (RED) partners and events have generated over $180 million for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.  This money has supported HIV/AIDS programs that have reached more than 7.5 million people affected by AIDS in Africa.  Current (PRODUCT)RED Proud Partners include: American Express (UK only), Apple, Beats by Dr. Dre, Belvedere, Bugaboo, Converse, Dell, Gap, Nike, Penfolds and Starbucks and Special Edition partners include: FEED, Girl Skateboards, Mophie, Nanda Home, Shazam and Solange Azagury-Partridge. Companies whose products take on the (PRODUCT)RED mark contribute a significant percentage of the sales or portion of the profits from that product to the Global Fund. On World AIDS Day 2010, (RED) launched “The AIDS Free Generation is Due in 2015” campaign. (RED) is joining the global health community in raising funds and awareness to help eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV by 2015 and helping to realize the first AIDS-free generation in nearly thirty years. Learn more at www.joinred.com.   About @radical.media @radical.media is a global transmedia company that creates some of the world’s most innovative content across all forms of media. The company develops, produces and distributes television, feature films, commercials, music programming, live events, smartphone & tablet applications, digital content and design. The company has been honored with an Academy Award®, numerous Emmys®, a Golden Globe®, Grammys®, Webbys®, The Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award for Communication Design, two Palme D’Or’s at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, and just about every other accolade associated with the advertising and marketing industries. @radical.media is a FremantleMedia Company. FremantleMedia’s global production arm is responsible for many of the world’s highest rated prime time television programmes and its brand extension arm FremantleMedia Enterprises offers a one-stop-shop for all Licensing, Distribution and Home Entertainment globally. www.radicalmedia.com