United Colors of Benetton

Cherise Prinsloo

BE 2010-0496

History Of Graphic Design 

AHGA 300

Assignment 1

Question 5

United Colors of Benetton

The United Colors of Benetton is a campaign that was launched by a clothing company in order to excel their sales. Benetton started off as a jersey company that marketed their jerseys in a very unorthodox method. They approached sensitive topics that were dominating the world news at the time, and they have adjusted their advertising approach accordingly ever since. They approached issues such as racism, religion, politics, gender, age distinction and sexuality.

This advertisement is part of their "Unhate" campaign. In this image we have two religious leaders from appeasing religions kissing each other. This is an incredibly brave choice of advertising because it could be seen as a form of disrespect to the religious as well as their beliefs. This is a controversial advert that reflects their aim for tolerance. This is a common theme throughout all of their campaigns.   

Form this advertisement you can see that they approached a racial controversy from the time There was a movement towards racial equality. This advertisement shows that this becomes a concern for a company. This also expands their market base, as they are now inviting other races to buy their clothing. They become a company for the people, which was relevant in the time it was released as there was a lot of rebellion against government in the 60s.