Advertising Age

4 articole

Controversial Benetton Ad Nabs Press

Grand Prix
Judges Say It Has 'Heart, Impact and Promotes Global
Debate'
By Kunur Patel. Published on June 20, 2012. 4
Benetton's controversial "Unhate" campaign, which finds world leaders lip-locked with
their biggest adversaries, won the Press Grand Prix at the Cannes Ad Festival today.

When the campaign launched last year, it was met with resistance. One ad in the series
had featured Pope Benedict XVI kissing a Muslim imam and was pulled within hours of
launch after the Vatican denounced it.
In response, Benetton posted on its Facebook page at the time: "We reiterate that the
meaning of this campaign is exclusively to combat the culture of hatred in all its forms.
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."
The Pope execution was not entered into the awards show, but the entire campaign was
met with controversy; some print publications refused the ads, including the International
Herald Tribune, the Guardian and Elle Francia. Well-known wide-circulation titles in
global markets, however, such as The Economist, Newsweek, Le Monde's M magazine in
France and Germany's Fur Sie did run them.
The campaign has already been recognized this awards season. Benetton's internal agency
Fabrica Treviso and MDC Partners' 72andSunny also took home some hardware at One
Show last month.

WHAT IT IS: The winning ads depict political and religious leaders kissing about the
banner "Unhate." The executions honored depict President Barack Obama kissing
Venezuela's Hugo Chvez, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas and German chancellor Angela Merkel with former French
president Nicolas Sarkozy.
WHY IT WON: The press jury celebrated the ad for both its universal message and
ability to go beyond just the printed page. "We feel that Benetton is such a strong brand
that making its comeback after 25 years, said jury president Tham Khai Meng. "It cuts
through all cultures, nationalities, faith even. It has heart impact and gut impact and
promotes a global debate." That very debate is what made the campaign literally jump off
the page into international news and online conversation as people around the world
weighed in on whether they loved or hated it. "All advertising wants to get people talking
about it," said U.K. juror Steve Jones. "It starts as a print ad and then it goes online and
people start talking about it and blogging about it."
THE JURY: The 18 jurors from 17 different countries celebrated "Unhate" for its
universality and social responsibility.
"It's part of our role as communicators to also talk about social responsibility," said
Ogilvy alum Mr. Meng. "Brands are coming to us asking for this type of
communications. Consumers also want to do good as they spend."
CONTROVERSY OR CLEAR WINNER? The "Unhate" campaign rose above the
rest, said Mr. Jones. The jury awarded 94 awards from about 6,000 entries. "The reason
we chose this is because it stood out on the wall," he said of the Benetton work. The
Italian retailer has long been known for both provocative and socially charged work. "It's
not like traditional advertising. It's not making a point about the clothes, its brand history.
It doesn't obey the rules."
"You can like it, you can dislike it, you can't ignore it," said juror Komal Bedi Sohal from
the United Arab Emirates.
http://adage.com/article/special-report-cannes-2012/controversial-benetton-ad-nabspress-grand-prix/235505/

Obama and Hu Jintao Kiss for Benetton's

New Campaign
By Rupal Parekh. Published on November 16, 2011. 0

Besides brightly-colored sweaters and polo-tees, Benetton's brand has always been
defined by its polarizing advertising, often focused on social themes like race-relations,
war and AIDS that help fuel talk value for the brand.
With it's latest push, the Italian retailer is decidedly going for shock value. In a new
campaign that launches today, Benetton depicts political and religious leaders kissing,
and very intimately, in the closed-eye, tilted-neck sort. Among them U.S. president
Barack Obama and Chinese leader Hu Jintao, Israel's prime minister Benjamin
Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and Pope Benedict XVI and
Ahmed Mohamed el-Tayeb, the head of the Al-Azhar mosque in Cairo and known as a
center for Sunni Islamic studies.
What's the point? Benetton says it's a metaphor for promoting tolerance between people
from different walks of life.
The ads have been rejected, unsurprisingly, by a number of publications, including the
International Herald Tribune, The Guardian and Elle Francia. But they will be picked up
by some well-known titles with broad reach. The print work is slated to run in this month
in The Economist, New York Magazine, Newsweek, Monocle, Le Monde's M magazine in
France, and Germany's Fur Sie and Suddeutsche Zeitung magazines.
The campaign also leans heavily on social media, including a website that Benetton is
calling a "Kiss Wall" where consumers can upload pictures of themselves kissing. It has
also created a short film about spreading love, or as Benetton calls it "unhate." All of the
work was created by Benetton's internal agency, Fabrica, which is based in Treviso, Italy,
in partnership with MDC Partners-owned 72andSunny, out of its Amsterdam office.
Alessandro Benetton, VP at the company and son of Benetton's founder Luciano,
unveiled the campaign today in Paris. He said in a statement: "It fits perfectly with the
values and history of Benetton, which chooses social issues and actively promotes
humanitarian causes that could not otherwise have been communicated on a global scale,
and in doing so has given a sense and a value to its brand, building a lasting dialogue
with the people of the world."
It's also a smart move considering the company -- which had been building year-overyear sales up through last year -- in its latest earnings period saw net income fall 33% to
$42.3 million. The dip was largely blamed on economic conditions. Currently Benetton
has about 6,000 stores and its 2010 sales figures show that nearly 50% of its business is
in Italy, about 30% is the rest of Europe, 16% is Asia, and the remaining 5% is from
U.S.A and other parts of the world.
Full credits for the work can be found here.
http://adage.com/article/behind-the-work/obama-hu-jintao-kiss-benetton-scampaign/231039/

Netanyahu, Abbas Smooch in Benetton

Ad; UPDATE: Pope Asks That Ads Be
Pulled
Italian Retailer Steps up the Controversy With New
Print Ads Also Featuring Lip Lock Between Pope
Benedict XVI and Ahmed Mohamed el-Tayeb
By Rupal Parekh. Published on November 16, 2011. 4

Besides brightly colored sweaters and polo-tees, Benetton's brand has always been
defined by its polarizing advertising, often focused on social themes such as race
relations, war and AIDS that help fuel talk value for the brand.
With it's latest push, the Italian retailer is decidedly going for shock value. In a new
campaign that launches today, Benetton depicts political and religious leaders kissing,
and very intimately, in the closed-eye, tilted-neck sort. Among them, U.S. president
Barack Obama and Chinese leader Hu Jintao, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Pope Benedict XVI and
Ahmed Mohamed el-Tayeb, the head of the Al-Azhar mosque in Cairo and known as a
center for Sunni Islamic studies.
What's the point? Benetton says it's a metaphor for promoting tolerance between people
from different walks of life.

The ads have been rejected, unsurprisingly, by a number of publications, including the
International Herald Tribune, the Guardian and Elle Francia. But they will be picked up
by some well-known titles with broad reach. The print work is slated to run in this month
in The Economist, New York Magazine, Newsweek, Monocle, Le Monde's M magazine
in France, and Germany's Fur Sie and Suddeutsche Zeitung magazines.
The campaign also leans heavily on social media, including a website that Benetton is
calling a "Kiss Wall" where consumers can upload pictures of themselves kissing. It has
also created a short film about spreading love, or as Benetton calls it, "unhate." All of the
work was created by Benetton's internal agency, Fabrica, which is based in Treviso, Italy,
in partnership with MDC Partners-owned 72andSunny, out of its Amsterdam office.

Alessandro Benetton, VP at the company and son of Benetton's founder Luciano,

unveiled the campaign today in Paris. He said in a statement: "It fits perfectly with the
values and history of Benetton, which chooses social issues and actively promotes
humanitarian causes that could not otherwise have been communicated on a global scale,
and in doing so has given a sense and a value to its brand, building a lasting dialogue
with the people of the world."
It's also a smart move considering the company -- which had been building year-overyear sales up through last year -- in its latest earnings period saw net income fall 33% to
$42.3 million. The dip was largely blamed on economic conditions. Currently Benetton
has about 6,000 stores and its 2010 sales figures show that nearly 50% of its business is
in Italy, about 30% is the rest of Europe, 16% is Asia, and the remaining 5% is from
U.S.A and other parts of the world.

Update:
Within a matter of hours of the launch of this campaign, Benetton and the agency that its
internal shop Fabrica is working with, MDC Partners' 72andSunny, heard directly from
the Pope asking that the image of him kissing Mr. el-Tayeb be yanked from the
campaign. On its Facebook page, Benetton posted: "We reiterate that the meaning of this
campaign is exclusively to combat the culture of hatred in all its forms. 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."
http://adage.com/article/agency-news/netanyahu-abbas-smooch-latest-benetton-adcampaign/231037/

Is This Fiat Spot Worth Frothing Over?

Italian Vixen Draws Mixed Reaction Around Our Office
Cooler
By Judann Pollack. Published on November 17, 2011. 34

One side effect of working at Ad Age is that you pretty much see it all and it gets harder
and harder to shock you. Just this week, for example, we had on our home page a story
about a Benetton campaign that pictured world leaders kissing passionately, such as
President Barack Obama smooching Chinese leader Hu Jintao.
All in a day's work.
So we weren't exactly shocked by a 60-second spot being bandied around the net for
Fiat's Arbath, a souped-up version of the base model with sexed up trim, special interiors
and color schemes that 's expected to come to the U.S. next year. The web-only
commercial, called "Seduction," is from Richards Group and shows a gorgeous Italian
vixen wowing a nerd by spreading what looks to be some cappuccino foam on herwell,
you can watch it here.
Reaction around the office wasn't uniform, however, with the men a bit more taken aback
at the creative than the women. Interestingly enough, that was the exact opposite of the
gender divide at our Detroit sibling Automotive News.
So dear reader, we ask you: Are you seduced by the spot?
http://adage.com/article/adages/fiat-spot-worth-frothing/231092/