Media giants MTV Networks International and sportswear label Nike have teamed up to fight HIV & AIDS by launching a charity auction. The items available to bid for are several pairs of NIKEiD footwear designed or autographed by some of the music industry’s coolest artists at this year’s MTV European Music Awards in Munich.
The auction will take place at www.ebay.com/mtv_nike and is intended to raise money for MTV’s Staying Alive Foundation which was established in 2005. To date, the foundation has given away 80 awards across 31 countries. Past recipients have included Kenya’s Talking Horn Theatre Group which raises awareness through street theatre & sports tournaments.
MTV.co.uk, however, is quick to remind us that the dangers of the epidemic can be closer to home: 'The UK is the only western country where HIV infection rates are rising, and an MTV research also shows that 70% of young people in Britain are having unsafe sex – a quarter of them believing the pill will protect them from the virus.'
Georgia Arnold, executive director of The Staying Alive Foundation, believes its time to use their 'strong connections to young people', saying that it’s them 'who are most at risk from HIV and AIDS, but it’s young people who are able to show leadership in the fight against HIV and AIDS.'
Well what better way to stimulate leadership in today’s youth than auctioning pairs of Nike Dunk Lows designed by artists such as Kelly Rowland, Craig David, Snoop Dogg, Shaggy and ex -Pussycat Doll – Nicole Scherzinger. Accompanying these will be a hundred pairs of limited edition Staying Alive branded footwear signed by theFoo Fighters, Wyclef Jean, Wu Tang Clan’s Rza and Will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas.
Brent Scrimshaw, Nike’s marketing VP for Europe, Africa & the Middle East, thanked the artists involved and said that Nike was 'honoured to support a program like Staying Alive that encourages youth to actively improve their communities.'
The launch event will take place in Nike Town on London’s Oxford Street on Thursday 6th December. If you want a pair of these limited edition trainers to show off, log on to www.ebay.com/mtv_nike from 6pm on launch night. Bidding ends on the 13th.
www.mtv.co.uk
www.auctionjam.com
By Salim Stephenson
Source : Contagious Newsletter 79
