United colours of Benetton

United Colours of Benetton

Benetton uses shocking imagery throughout all his campaigns. This has been a method that remains constant in all his imagery.

 The company is known for sponsorship of a number of sports, and for the provocative and original "United Colors" publicity campaign. The latter originated when photographer Oliviero Toscani was given carte blanche by the Benetton management. Under Toscani's direction, ads were created that contained striking images unrelated to any actual products being sold by the company.

These graphic, billboard-sized ads included depictions of a variety of shocking subjects, one of which featured a deathbed scene of a man (AIDS activist David Kirby) dying from AIDS. Others included a bloodied, unwashed newborn baby with umbilical cord still attached, which was highly controversial. This 1991 advert prompted more than 800 complaints to the British Advertising Standards Authority during 1991 and was featured in the reference book Guinness World Records 2000 as 'Most Controversial Campaign'. Others included a black stallion covering a white mare, close-up pictures of tattoos reading "HIV Positive" on the bodies of men and women.

 a cemetery of many cross-like tombstones, a collage consisting of genitals of persons of various races, a priest and nun about to engage in a romantic kiss, pictures of inmates on death row, an electric chair, an advert showing a boy with hair shaped into the devil's horns, 

three different hearts with "black", "white" and "yellow" written onto them , and a picture of a bloodied t-shirt and pants riddled with bullet holes from a soldier killed in the Bosnian War . 

Most of the advertisements, although not all, had a plain white background, and in most the company's logo served as the only text accompanying the image.

2011 marketing campaign

UNHATE campaign featuring Chinese President Hu Jintao kissing US President Barack Obama.

In autumn 2011, Benetton launched its new worldwide communication campaign, an invitation to the leaders and citizens of the world to combat the "culture of hatred", and created the UNHATE Foundation.

 This campaign was created as the group’s corporate social responsibility strategy and not as a cosmetic exercise.

The Benetton Group “seeks to contribute to the creation of a new culture against hate”. Benetton’s research communication centre, Fabrica, partnered up with 72andSunny to create the UNHATE poster series.

According to Benetton “These are symbolic images of reconciliation—with a touch of ironic hope and constructive provocation—to stimulate reflection on how politics, faith and ideas, even when they are divergent and mutually opposed, must still lead to dialogue and mediation”. 

72andSunny adds “United Colors of Benetton returns to the cultural conversation with a simple and powerful message of tolerance: UNHATE. Hate and love are often in a delicate and unstable balance. This campaign promotes a shift in the balance”.

However, these posters of the lip-locking political and religious figures have sparked controversy. In addition, Benetton released an advertisement that displayed President Barack Obama of the United States and President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela kissing.

On November 17, 2011 The Vatican announced that it would take legal action against Benetton after the company used a photo purportedly showing Pope Benedict XVI kissing Ahmed Mohamed el Tayeb, the imam of the Al Azhar mosque in Egypt. Benetton responded: "We reiterate that the meaning of this campaign is exclusively to combat the culture of hatred in all its forms," said a Benetton Group spokesman. "We are therefore sorry that the use of the image of the Pope and the Imam has so offended the sentiments of the faithful. In corroboration of our intentions, we have decided, with immediate effect, to withdraw this image from every publication."