Digitally manipulated smooches have officially taken the Internet by storm. The Italian fashion company Benetton unleashed their controversial “Unhate Campaign,” and the initial feedback has been mixed at best. Unhate consists of a series of advertisements that includes, among others, images of President Obama kissing Chinese leader Hu Jianto, Obama kissing Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez, Angela Merkel kissing french president Szarkosy etc. The most controversial image depicts Pope Benedict kissing a male imam. Al-Azhar suspended interfaith talks with the Vatican earlier this year after Benedict called for greater protections for Egypt’s minority Christians. Rev. Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, called the ad an “unacceptable” and “offensive” manipulation of the Pope’s likeness. The message of the campaign seems to be pretty simple – people of different race, orientation, and creed should not hate each other. Benetton, with its “United Colors” moniker, has made some bold choices in the past, but nothing compares to the shock value attached to the images released this campaign. Are they really going to make consumers feel that Benetton clothing inspires equality, or will the jarring nature of a Pope-Imam kiss deter buyers? Did Benetton create this campaign to ignite legitimate conversation, or to sell more sweaters? More answers are revealed on the unhate website below.
Benetton has a history of not only being edgy, but of being anti-Catholic and vulgar: in 1995, its magazine Colors featured Christmas holiday ads promoting such gifts as a bull’s testicles and a metal instrument used to abort unborn children. The Catholic League quickly condemned Benetton at the time. Benetton gets no points for withdrawing the pope-imam ad. It knew what it was doing, and we know from past experience what its intent was. What is particularly striking about all this is that the ad campaign was launched to promote tolerance. Guess its hatred of Catholicism is so strong that even appeals to tolerance cannot stop it from fostering intolerance. Though it was forced to remove the ad, Benetton reiterated that its “Unhate” campaign was aimed at fostering tolerance and “global love.” According to Benetton, the ads were “symbolic of images of reconciliation – with a touch of ironic hope and constructive provocation – to stimulate reflection on how politics, faith and ideas, when they are divergent and mutually opposed, must still lead to dialogue and mediation.” The images were unfurled midweek in Milan, New York, Paris, Tel Aviv and Rome. Benetton is no stranger to shock advertising. Past campaigns featured death row inmates and dying AIDS victims. They are famous for using socially-conscious messages to sell its products, and the timing could not be more appropriate with the Occupy Movement gaining fervor across the globe. “The campaign shows that we need to have courage to not hate others,” said Alessandro Benetton, executive deputy chairman of Benetton, and son of the Italian-based company’s founder, Luciano. The “Unhate” campaign draws from a famous painting on the Berlin Wall depicting Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev kissing his East German counterpart Erich Honecker.
But what does UNHATE mean accordig to Benetton? UN-hate. Stop hating, if you were hating. Unhate is a message that invites us to consider that hate and love are not as far away from each other as we think. Actually, the two opposing sentiments are often in a delicate and unstable balance. Our campaign promotes a shift in the balance: don’t hate, Unhate. The UNHATE Foundation, desired and founded by the Benetton Group, seeks to contribute to the creation of a new culture of tolerance, to combat hatred, building on Benetton’s underpinning values. It is another important step in the group’s social responsibility strategy: not a cosmetic exercise, but a contribution that will have a real impact on the international community, especially through the vehicle of communication, which can reach social players in different areas. The Foundation will organise initiatives involving different stakeholders, from the new generations to the institutions, international organisations and NGOs, through to civil society.
The Foundation also aims to be a think tank, attracting personalities and talents from the fields of culture, economy, law and politics, and people who have gone from simple citizens to leaders of movements, distinguishing themselves through their ideas and actions against the causes and effects of hatred. With the launch of a series of initiatives that will involve the community and social players in different areas, starting with the UNHATE campaign, communication tools will be set in motion to reach the rest of the world, bearing witness to macro and micro situations of social conflict. Practical initiatives will include a Global UNHATE DAY, using tools developed by the UNHATE campaign, with events in 50 different cities around the world, in Europe, Asia and Latin America. The first communication initiative will be the UNHATE DOVE that will carry the message of tolerance of the Foundation: the Unhate DOVE, by the cuban artist Erik Ravelo, will be built by recycling used war bullets for a 4 meter long dove that will be then donated to a country that has recently faced conflicts.
In collaboration with Fabrica, Benetton’s communication research centre, the Foundation will seek to become a centre for research and innovation on an international level, creating specific social campaigns on the themes of tolerance, some of which will be developed in partnership with international organisations. The key to helping build a global culture of tolerance and acceptance of diversity lies in the future generations. With the specific aim of working with the young, who are agents of change against hatred, the Foundation will promote the development of educational programmes on tolerance. These programs will be developed together with international organisations and NGOs and, thanks to these collaborations, they will be open to young people from all over the world, and especially to those from areas with the highest “hate-risk”. The Foundation will also enjoy the support of other initiatives promoted by Benetton, such as Ponzano Children and Verde Sport, which have a particular focus on children, young people, and in general the role that quality education, attention to childhood and sports can play in promoting tolerance and acceptance of diversity. In order to raise awareness among the new generation, the foundation will also make use of the “Global Tolerance Index”. This instrument uses specific indices to make an annual analysis of the extent to which the lack of tolerance and failure to accept diversity in specific people and groups influences the relationships between countries and the social injustice affecting communities, starting with the young and with vulnerable groups. Art for tolerance: in partnership with Fabrica, the Foundation will support the talent and work of young people living in areas where hatred has generated social injustice and conflicts. These young people will express themselves through works of art or music that bear witness to their efforts to contrast hatred. Tolerance to promote human rights and the fight against poverty: the Foundation will promote projects created by various players from civil society, which aim to spread a culture of tolerance. From projects in Israel/Palestine to anti-hatred initiatives in the Brazilian favelas, getting the children that are forced to become killers back to school; from projects working against hatred towards ethnic minorities, to actions in the rundown neighbourhoods of our cities. It is so often the “ordinariness” of hatred (between people, groups of people and nations) that stands in the way of rights and access to resources, and perpetuates poverty. For more information visit the links below.
