Trust an Irishman to turn one of the seven deadly sins into a heavenly virtue. U2 frontman Bono's latest step in his campaign to save lives in Africa is to make it OK to shop. A lot.

After many years wrestling with the question of whether desire and virtue are contradictory, Bono has concocted a formula that he says allows the two to co-exist. He believes he can turn the sin of greed into the virtue of charity and he has christened it the Red campaign.

"Is it possible to change the world while doing what we enjoy? Can we have what we want and be virtuous about it at the same time? Well, maybe we can," Bono wrote recently.

Red's goal is to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in Africa.

This month British shopaholics will be able to indulge their addiction guilt-free, so the campaign says. Armed with a Red American Express card they will be able to support the cause because a percentage of the amount they spend will be donated.

If shoppers pick up a GAP T-shirt, a pair of Armani sunnies or a pair of Converse sneakers, even better. The proceeds will go to the Global Fund, a UN-administered transnational charity, to fight the three killer diseases.

Amex will contribute 1 per cent of every pound ($2.41) spent.

"That's what Red is all about, the knowledge, that desire, the desire to shop, and virtue, the wish to see the world a better place, are not always contradictory," Bono said.

Bono's key weapon is marketing. He wants to piggyback on the prowess of international companies to glamorise Red's appeal. And the pin-up girl is curvaceous actress Scarlett Johansson (pictured), who claimed recently that she's "all about fashion, cheeseburgers and bright-red lipstick".

The 21-year-old, sexy and worldly beyond her years, is reaching out to the mainstream, people who would not be seen dead at an anti-poverty demonstration and who instead spend their spare time spending.

"Now when I go out and buy a pair of trainers they are not only cool but some of the profits are going to raise awareness," she told Britain's Sunday Times.

Ironically, those Converse sneakers are owned by Nike, the multinational criticised for charging high prices for shoes made by low-paid workers in developing countries.

But sleeping with the enemy is all part of Bono's new approach.

At a press conference on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, journalists asked Bono if he was being used by the multinational bosses that he had signed up.

"It's part of my job but I'm not a cheap date," he retorted.

Bono claims he abandoned philanthropy in favour of commerce in a bid to fight a staggering statistic: 6500 people in Africa die every day from AIDS. He wants African HIV/AIDS sufferers to be treated with the antiretroviral drugs that are so readily available in the West.

"They are dying from the lack of drugs that you and I can get at any corner chemist. A pill that costs 30 pence [70 cents] a day," he said.

And if there's a buck in it for the multi-nationals, so much the better, he said.

The campaign certainly fits the commercial goals of American Express, which has been signing deals with charities in Australia for several years.

The first was with the environmental group WWF in 1999.

Amex is not doing it out of pure goodness, as the company's chief marketing officer John Hayes admits.

Signing on with Red was a cheap way of bringing in new customers who were avoiding television commercials by watching programs recorded on digital video.

"We are not spending the same amount we might have spent on a traditional product," he told The Financial Times earlier this year. "We are trying to create a product through pull, and not rely on the more traditional approaches of push [in attracting consumers]. We are not going to fill your mailbox with Red mailings."

Red is helping Amex reach the so-called "conscience" market in Britain, a growing group of consumers, estimated to number about 1.5 million, who tend to be affluent and educated, he said. They are "defined by this trait that doing good is important".

British shoppers can consult a website, www.ethiscore.org, that tests products according to whether they are made under conditions that are friendly to the worker as well as the environment. Items such as pet food, MP3 players and toothpaste come under scrutiny.

While British consumers are regarded as being at the forefront of the so-called ethical consumer market, it is also a growing trend in Australia. Amex has signed similar deals with at least three other charities: Oxfam, Save the Children as well as WWF. The company says it has donated more than $1 million over the past five years through its co-branded cards.

But pure philanthropy, that old-fashioned notion that Bono wants to leave behind, is still the biggest source of charity in Australia.

Amex's contribution is a drop in the ocean compared with the total amount of money Australians donate.

The Australian Council for International Development's most recent data says Australians donated $487 million to overseas charities in 2004.

Some question whether Bono's new commerce-driven campaign is the most efficient way to save the world.

On its co-branded Oxfam card, Amex waives the annual $25 fee for the first year, provides a 55-day, interest-free period and then charges 17.49 per cent. In return, Oxfam receives $70 for each new customer and a payment of 0.25 per cent on the amount the cardholder is billed.

But it's certainly not charity for Amex. Its regular card charges 1.2 per cent less than its Oxfam card but with the same annual $25 fee, credit card monitor Cannex says.

Amex delivered Oxfam $33,000 last year. But, again, it is a drop in the ocean. Oxfam received $24 million from Australians at the same time and another $22 million specifically to help victims of the Asian tsunami.

"The reality is the best way to give to a charity is straight philanthropy," Oxfam's Australian marketer Kim Berry said.

But there is no doubt that tapping into the shopaholic's urge can offer massive benefits.

Last Christmas the charity launched its "unwrapped" program, in which donors can buy a goat, chicken, supply of medicine or a vegetable patch for people in developing countries.

Berry thought she was being ambitious by aiming for $1 million, but instead $1.5 million came in.

"The response from the public was amazing," Berry said.

"The most popular products are the chickens and the goats, I guess because they are cute. Food for children in East Timor did really well, as did school books."

Philanthropy might be thriving in Australia but, like any true capitalist, Bono is in search of expanding markets. "We need to create heat in other areas where we haven't had a presence," he said.

And the prospect of bringing his campaign to Australia cannot be ruled out.

While Amex says there is no plan to bring the Red card to Australia, Bono claims it will be offered to other countries later this year if it goes well in Britain.

Perhaps guilt-free shopping will be here in time for Christmas.