American Express Red Card

The new American Express Red Card does more than your average piece of plastic. According to Brandweek, 1% of all purchases on the credit card go towards fighting HIV/AIDs. Through the Red Card (sibling to AmEx's famous Black Card, reserved for the super spenders among us) American Express hopes to target a group they're calling "'Conscience Consumers'," Brandweek explains.

The new Red Card is slowly gaining momentum, and celebrity endorsements, even though it was launched at the end of January. Celebrity Sailing has posted photos of model Elle MacPherson promoting the card, and of course, U2 frontman Bono appears to be integrally involved in raising awareness about this new way to spend without guilt. According to Financial Times, however, "Cynics will see such products as a way of charging higher prices and passing on only a fraction of the extra to the people they are supposed to help," but apparently something is better than nothing to shoppers--or shall we say"conscience consumers" (is that an oxymoron?).

Whether this new commodified means of social awareness is a permanent feature of consumption or just yet another way to feel like we're doing something to change the world is still unclear. Without a doubt, however, AmEx has tapped into a market that is increasingly aware that there are bigger problems out there than simply picking out the right pair of Manolo Blahniks for Friday night. Maybe this bodes well for the future--people are realizing that with prosperity comes social responsibility.