United blandless of Benetton

Last week United Colours of Benetton unveiled its latest brand ambassadors and advertising campaigns in which they featured. For the first time they united their product campaigns with their social awareness campaigns, and the result fails on both counts.

Benetton has built its reputation on powerful campaigns which promote social issues and equality awareness. From Pope Benedict XVI kissing a senior Egyptian Iman, to promoting HIV awareness, to publicising poverty and inequality, to attempting to encourage cross-cultural understanding and conversation and in their tireless fighting against racial discrimination; the company has built a reputation for social campaigning centred around its provocative and powerful advertising campaigns. Although at times landing the company in hot water, the campaigns have allowed the brand to forge its reputation as social aware with a keen social conscious, allowing consumers no choice but to recognise the company’s ethical ethos. In not being scared to promote diversity or tackle taboo subjects and issues, the company has frequently angered campaigners and other groups – and at times has had to withdraw its images. But the consistency of the company at producing powerful, iconic images which promote these issues without demeaning them is why they are so renowned and respected for their advertising.

Alongside these campaigns they have also run product campaigns, promoting their seasonal product range and the diversity of their selection and consumers. Inoffensive and simple these campaigns promote the products without shoving the company’s social campaigning down consumer’s throats. Much more akin to the advertising of a rival company such as Uniqlo, they are less associated with the brand, and accordingly somewhat less iconic. However their continued use of a racial, ethical and gender mix in these campaigns still enforces the brands anti-discrimination ethos.

Now the company has combined the two. The latest campaign sees disabled model Mario Galla and transsexual model Lea T promoting products in the same advertisements which are being used to help overcome prejudice and promote social awareness. However the campaign fails to capitalise on the taboo issues their models raise, instead presenting them as standard product models who could be promoting any fashion label. The company claims they are returning the focus to the power of colour, and the images of their ambassadors certainly emphasise the vibrant colours of the products. However in downplaying the features which led Benetton to select the ambassadors the uniqueness, power and message of the campaign is lost. Rather than promoting the ways these individuals have overcome adversity to campaign for equality they present them like any other model – bland and without a story.

For a company with such a rich history of creative, emotive, advertising which tells the story of social inequalities, the latest campaign fails to add to the brands identity. The company continues to support the Unhate Foundation, but since the campaign fails to communicate how its models are overcoming prejudice, it lacks the tenacity and fearlessness associate with the brand, diminishing it to nothing more than another seasonal campaign from another clothing brand.