Red for Life

This initiative used music as a form of communication and engaged prominent musicians to increase HIV/AIDS awareness. The campaign's first event was a live music concert on February 12 2005 titled "Rage for the Revolution" featuring South African artists. The concert hoped to reach non-black youth, whom the organisers believe have excluded themselves from awareness initiatives.

In a second wave, Levi Strauss South Africa and SONY BMG Music Entertainment brought together 14 South African top music artists to produce a CD called CD4. "What sets this collaboration apart from other compilation CD’s is that each of the artists have taken one of their most recognised tunes, songs that have touched people and made an impact and reworked them acoustically for the album." Another highlight of the album was an anthem track that features all of the artists. A dedicated website enabled visitors to listen to selected tracks, watch music videos, and read selected quotations from the artists featured on the album, such as "One moment of laziness can't be worth cutting your entire life short."

The campaign joined with a HIV/AIDS prevention initiative called "Condoms Everywhere" that distributed about 60,000 condoms to schools. To publicise and raise funds for that programme, the initiative combined music with marketing to engage youth. For example, on December 3 2005 at Levi’s® stores in selected South Africa locations, celebrities such as MXO, Amu, Mr. Selwyn, Wikid, and Tumi and The Volume sold limited edition "Levi’s® Red for Life Condoms Save" t-shirts; all proceeds, totalling ZAR150 000.00 once all were sold, were donated to the TAC Treatment project. This involvement is indicative of the artists' pledge to contribute their time to the cause, which involves them speaking directly to young people about the real issues surrounding this disease - "this is an on-the-ground approach to letting Mzansi’s youth know that HIV/AIDS does kill, and that it kills without discrimination. The message is open and direct - condoms save lives." Media makers such as SABC 1 and 5fm showed their solidarity by wearing the tee-shirts prior to the event; the goal was to contribute to raising awareness and opening up discourse on the killer pandemic.

Red for Life spreads its message to youth in many different ways. In addition to the t-shirt selling day, the campaign also includes the documentary Unzipped: Sex, drugs and rock n’ roll in the age of AIDS (which explores how HIV/AIDS is impacting on the lives of music stars), as well as "5fm: Stop the silence!", an informative platform for Levi’s® to reach our further via radio.

The 2007 campaign is featured on the Oppikoppi Productions website. Levi's partnered with New Start, the independent HIV testing service of the Society For Family Health, to implement a branded VCT campaign called "Work It Out For Yourself." This aspect of Levi’s® Red for Life focused on encouraging people to get tested and know their HIV status, empowering the youth with the understanding that by doing so, they can shape their own futures. The message was "you need to work it out for yourselves, and take control of your lives."

HIV/AIDS, Youth.

All funds raised by the campaign will be provided to the TAC Treatment project, which provides antiretroviral treatment to as many HIV-positive people as funding allows.