Bono's Red Blitz Centers on Chicago

By Matt Wood in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 13, 2006 12:11PM

Yesterday's Bonoprah event at the Michigan Avenue Gap might have been a bust, but it won't be the last time Chicagoans will be seeing red. The talk show queen and the world's rockingest philanthropist were supposed to appear yesterday as part of the Product Red campaign, which involves a number of big-name brands organized to fight AIDS in Africa. Along with Gap's new line of Red t-shirts, Motorola introduced a new red Razr phone, and Apple rolled out a red iPod nano. Motorola temporarily reopened its store at 666 N. Michigan Avenue to sell the new phone, which will be the only location where the phone is available in the U.S. during the two-week promotional period. The new phone sells for a $30 premium over those lame gray ones. Up to $17 per phone goes towards AIDS relief, but if that isn't enough to make you want one, U.S. Cellular COO Jay Ellison says blatant consumerism should. “It’s a new color,” he told Crain's. “There is going to be strong demand for that color.” If Americans can't be induced to fight AIDS simply because it's a horrible disease, they can because they need to be the first on the block with a hot new cell phone.

Bono also used his time in Chicago to corner President Bush, in town for a Republican fundraiser and to catch some of that Denny Hastert sunshine. Bono and supermodel Christy Turlington boarded Air Force One for a conversation about AIDS. Not wanting to push the President's attention span, the talk lasted just 10 minutes, eight of which consisted of Turlington dancing around in a bikini with flash cards summarizing the epidemic in Africa, while Bono strummed along on a guitar.