Case Study- Benetton

The Italian brand caused famous controversy with their ad-campaigns in the late 80's fronted by photographer Italian Oliviero Toscani.

It is said that the brand is the pioneer for 'shockvertising'; a form of advertising  designed to deliberatley shock with graphic imagery or a blunt message to break social norms or convey personal ideals.

These advertisments often consisted of a photographic image with the Benetton logo. The images were to raise awareness of issues of the time or call people out on there social prejudices:

Racism: The United Colours of Benetton (the brands casual range) often featured mixes of multiracial people together as racism was a much bigger issue in the 80's. One of the most shocking is the image of a black woman breast feeding a white baby. The advert of the black man and the white man in handcuffs also sparked many complaints off people saying that it was a racial prejudice for a white man to be arresting a black man. However this was Toscani's aim as he deliberately dressed both men the same and waited for people to create there own conclusions. This highlighted that it was infact them who held the prejudiced view.

Aids: This was a huge issue in the 1980's as it was the beginning of the AIDS pandemic as it was first recognized in 1981 and has since become one of the most destructive diseases of all time. Benetton raised awareness of the issue by using there advertisements of different body parts with 'HIV positive' on them. They made sure to use the body parts of men and women in there advertisements as it was a pre-conception that it was only homosexual men that got aids in the 80's. They also created a very controversial advertisement with a photograph of an aid victims deathbed and his grieving family. This caused outcry yet the family said they gave there consent in order to raise awareness of the condition.

Deathrow: There was a debate on at the time of the Benetton campaign about deathrow in the USA. Toscani featured many of the criminals in his campaigns with the hard hitting slogan 'SENTENCED TO DEATH'. However there was national outcry at the images and hundreds of complaints including some from the victims of the murderers families. After this the brands reputation diminished drastically and the company lost alot of profit. It was the last straw for Benetton and Olivio Toscani was stopped from doing any more campaigns for the brand.

Other shocking images from the Benetton/ Toscani campaign:

Umbilical cord baby

Famine

Horses mating

 Domestic violence

Despite being sacked by Benetton Toscani continued his 'shockvertising'. One of the most famous of his images- a girl suffering from anorexia:

She is extremely emancipated and this shocked alot of people and again caused alot of anger from audiences. However, Toscani has also been praised for bringing uncomfortable social problems into the limelight and increasing awareness of them.

This poses the question is American Apparel picking up the torch where Benetton have left it? And will they make the same mistakes and go to far (thats to say if they havn't already!) or will they be able to become a global success?