New Yorkers maneuver though the concrete jungle in hot pursuit of anything from chasing their ambition of being a solo artist or just getting a cup of coffee. This is the city of opportunity, and clothing company, Benetton rolls the dice and chances their luck. They hope their advertising opportunity will inspire those who are looking for theirs. They post large posters that depict Obama kissing Chinese president, Hu Jintao, Pope Benedict kissing an Eqyptian Imam, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu kissing Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, and several others. Benettons campagin, UNhate, is supposed to promote peace and reaching out to others.
Benetton is trying to gain a financial reward from other people’s demise and disrespect. This is juvenile, uncomfortably radical and illegal.
One of my biggest problems with this is Benetton didn’t even bother to ask permission from these world leaders. They may have first amendment rights but those rights don’t exceed infringing on the right of others. Famous people and people in power are humans too. Traits that make those people exceptional do not take away the respect every person is entitled to. What Benetton did was libel, which is not only unscrupulous, but illegal. The inclusion of world leaders may have been an attempt to get a point across, but because those individuals are so well known, it just brought more attention to their advertisement and magnified the crime even more.
Also, the advertisement is just lewd and unnecessary. The purpose of the advertisement is to promote peace. There are many other ways of expressing peace besides the uncouth lip to lip contact that Benetton endorses so much. If Benetton’s lack in creative and unique advertising skills depends on involving revered individuals to make a statement, they could at least post them shaking hands, or doing another gesture that promotes the same idea, without the vulgarity. None of these individuals who were posted kissing their counterpart have ever expressed mutual agreement by kissing. When the U.S. signed the treaty of Versailles with Germany and France, they didn’t seal the deal with a peck on the lips. Kissing is a display of affection, and I doubt any of these men have a loving relationship amongst each other. Benetton has totally exceeded the purpose of a kiss along and the boundary line of contemporary advertising.
I also find it ironic how the ad is supporting tranquility among the world when it will actually arouse more controversy. None of these people actually kissed each other and Photoshop was used as a tool of evil. To some gullible people, this picture could damage the advertisee’s reputation. Instead of the fake that it is; the more deceivable might see this photo of Obama kissing Hu Jintao and think, “What is Michelle going to think about this?” This reaction may not be what Benetton intended but people that gullible exist, and they could make a difference in who wins the election in 2012.If the Monica Lewinsky affair was almost enough to get Clinton impeached, then this kiss could definitely affect the election.
Benetton claims that the advertisement was to relaunch their business and stay within the social current. To me, this sounds like some girl in junior high school who gossips to her peers in attempt to gain popularity because she is so self conscious about her latter status according to her immature classmates. Benetton has a good reason to be self conscious. Competitors like Zara and H&M have surpassed Benetton in revenue within the recent years. It’s a shame that Benetton has to resort to exploiting those people on their ads just to keep from being overcome by other stores.
The Benetton advertisement was a pathetic attempt of getting attention that is liable to backfire. If they’re even in business in the future, maybe they should hire promoters who will successfully induce revenue. If they choose to continue the advertising path they’ve taken, they can kiss their scarves and sweaters franchise goodbye.
