Hong Kong singer Gu Juji, or Leo Ku, and volunteers pose at a launch ceremony in Hong Kong on Friday afternoon. [Photo: MTV]

MTV and The Body Shop boosted their global campaign for HIV and AIDS prevention with Move Your Lips 2008 last Friday. In Hong Kong, singer Gu Juji served as propaganda ambassador to help raise awareness of the global epidemic among young people.

This year, The Body Shop launched a limited edition guarana lip butter retailing for 59 HK dollars, or about 7 US dollars. The proceeds from the product go directly to the Staying Alive Foundation, an organization that funds HIV awareness and prevention for young people around the world.

The campaign is designed to bring the epidemic back to the forefront of young people's minds, and change attitudes and behavior toward HIV and AIDS.

Alarming new statistics have highlighted the fact that over half of all new HIV infections are among adults under the age of 25. It is estimated that one person between the ages of 15 and 24 contracts the disease every 15 seconds.

As part of the campaign, MTV and The Body Shop have created advertisements to air on MTV channels worldwide, reaching a potential audience of 1.4 billion people. The ads will also be featured on MTV and Staying Alive's digital media services.

Launched in 2007, the campaign claims to be the biggest-ever multimedia partnership between a global broadcaster and retailer, whose reach spans 44 countries.