United colours of Benetton
UNITED COLOURS OF BENETTON - TOSCANI'S ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNSOver the years, advertising has become the single largest source of visual imagery in our society. No matter where we look, we see advertisements trying to sell us everything from food to cars. We often see images of beautiful people enticing us to spend our money on products we think we need, hoping that by purchasing the product we too will reap the benefits of owning it. Not long ago however, an Italian clothing designer named Luciano Benetton changed the face of advertising forever by employing Oliviero Toscani as chief of advertising at Benetton. Instead of showing Benetton's products in its advertisements, they have chosen to show images related to important world issues in an apparent attempt to raise awareness. In this essay, I shall discuss the social and cultural implications of Benetton's advertisements to discover why they have become so criticised and whether or not they are beneficial to society today.It was in 1989 that Benetton became the first company to eliminate pictures of its products from its advertisements. In their place, Benetton uses powerful images of AIDS victims, racism, war and now even death row inmates. In the same year, th
Another problem that would arise if Benetton did choose to remove their logo is how would they fund the campaigns? This leaves two possible solutions. It would seem as if Benetton chooses not to take a strong stance on controversial issues in order not to alienate any potential customers. Kirby's family then gave Benetton permission to use the picture in their advertisements in hopes that it would raise attention of the AIDS epidemic. I believe that in our society today, we should try to open our minds to consider the possibility that these advertisements are a real attempt to help the world and not another corporate attempt at consumer manipulation. One advertisement is of three hearts with the words white, black and yellow written across them. Many believed that given the history of slavery in the U. " It has been criticised by the Advertising Standards Authority, who have asked Benetton to take the posters down world-wide. However, we must realise that we are dealing with a new form of advertising, and evaluating it with the old fashioned concept of what advertising should be. Many feel that death is the only suitable form of justice for certain crimes while others argue that any form of capital punishment is inhumane and unconstitutional. No one can dispute that racism still exists throughout the entire world. Benetton attempted to make the problem seem more personal, hoping that if people realised that they too were susceptible to the AIDS virus, they might be more likely to help the problem. Benetton and Toscani's personal ideas and perspectives on advertising have since become very similar with Benetton's corporate image. I believe that Benetton tries to create a bridge between art and advertising. " Toscani, who has a long history in dealing with art, was given total control over Benetton's advertisements.
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Acceptance Essays
