Advertisements on billboards and in magazines proclaim that a T-shirt can change the world.

The T-shirts they’re referring to are red ones, printed with messages like “INSPI(RED)” and “UNCENSO(RED).” Fifty percent of profits from the shirts, which are sold at the Gap, go toward fighting AIDS in Africa.

The Gap might be the first company to say outright that a piece of clothing can change the world, but it’s certainly not the first to try.

Both nonprofit charities and large corporations have long sold clothing that both sends a message and gives consumers a way to give to a cause they support.

“We make it something that’s easy for (consumers) to do. We make it something they want to do anyway,” said Patrick Gray, founder of the Web site TakePride.com, which sells T-shirts to raise money for wounded-veterans organizations.

Gray and his friend, John Betz, a Marine, founded the company a little over a year and a half ago after realizing that patriotic T-shirts tended to be not particularly trendy. They wanted to make something that would support U.S. troops but that also would look like something you could buy at stores like Urban Outfitters or Abercrombie and Fitch.

Gray and Betz got in touch with some of their friends serving in the military. They also scoured newspapers for stories of interesting servicemen and women. They then designed 10 T-shirts inspired by specific soldiers who are serving or have served in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The designs are simple — a line drawing of a soldier with child; an image of a Humvee with the sun setting behind it. They’re printed on trendy American Apparel T-shirts. Since they began making the shirts four months ago, Gray said, people sometimes stop him in the street to ask him where he got his shirt.

Gray said he wanted to create something that was attention-grabbing, but not overtly political. Rather, he said, the T-shirts send a simple message: The people who wear them are aware of the troops overseas and respect what the soldiers are doing.

“We didn’t want some giant yellow spotlight on the person saying, ‘Hey, I’m doing something spectacular to say I support the troops.’”

In short, he said, the shirts are about making support accessible.

The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation was among the first groups to put that idea to work.

The organization makes a pink scarf to raise money for breast cancer research each year. On its Web site, pink pajamas and men’s ties are for sale. Payless Shoe Source sells cell phone charms to raise money for the foundation.

The company pairs with dozens of corporations to sell apparel and other items that help raise money for breast cancer research, said cause marketing manager Caroline Wall. Last year alone, she said, those partnerships raised more than $30 million.

“It is a significant part of our fundraising,” she said.

Wall said she frequently encounters women wearing the scarves, pins and other apparel.

“It’s so great to see because you know people want to show their outward support,” she said.

But people don’t buy the scarves and pajamas and cell phone charms solely because they want to make a donation.

“It’s cute, cute stuff,” she said.

Look online and you’ll find a signature clothing item for just about every type of charity out there.

Handmade scarves are sold to raise money for prosthetics for kids in need; a sweatshop-free T-shirt printed with urban landscape scenes raises money for a nonprofit called Global Exchange.

Casey Little, a soldier profiled on the Take Pride Web site, said the shirts the company prints mean a lot to him.

Little has already served one tour of duty in Iraq and is preparing for a second in May. He bought a shirt as soon as they were available, he said. In part, he thought the images of the soldiers — brave and hard-working, but tired and scared, too — really captured what he and other soldiers felt.

“I just think it shows people that it’s still a hard fight fought by hard men.”

And the fact that the shirts are selling means something, too.

“It’s a really good feeling to know that people haven’t forgotten about the sacrifices that we’ve made and continue to make,” he said.

A few sites selling clothing for a cause

— Product (Red): www.joinred.com. A variety of companies (including Gap and Apple) produce special products and donate a portion of the profits to fight AIDS in Africa.

— Take Pride: www.TakePride.com. T-shirts are inspired by stories from war veterans. Twenty percent of profits go to charities that help combat veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.

— Komen Foundation: www.komen.org . Gift-shop sales support breast cancer research and education.

Reach Cara Pesek at 473-7361 or cpesek@journalstar.com.