Abstract
This chapter investigates the commercialization of HIV through the "(RED)" brand (see www.red.org). Branding is a principal strategy of marketing; on the whole, it establishes an organized network of semiotics, or signs, symbols, and products, which provide a universalizing system of meaning. When applied to issues of health, the stakes go beyond bankrolls and promises to consumers; rather the stakes are life and equity. This study critiques the (RED) brand, an economic initiative to provide AIDS relief in Africa via First World consumption. This is achieved through a Social Semiotic Analyses of production and marketing data. Through this, it is shown that (RED) commercializes HIV through strategic processes: aestheticization of their logo and website, and recontextualization of business partners, language, and the color red. Among other things, (RED) shows that semiotic resources are powerful, but they are hard to control in regard to certain meaning. Also, (RED) fosters First World consumers to participate in a neo-/colonization of Africa via their consumption. Ultimately, while (RED) makes business strides, it appears to reinforce reductive anti-queer logics of early days of HIV, let alone enduring anti-queer stigma.