Analysis Of 'United Colors Of Benetton'

There is no such thing as bad publicity

There is no denying that this modern-day society is constantly bombarded with advertisements. On television, on billboards and on most websites companies try to persuade consumers with the ‘most efficient washing machine of 2016’ or the ‘best mobile phone according to Mr So-and-so‘. Humans in the 21st century have mastered the art and understand the language of advertising; a woman with shiny, flowing hair means some new kind of shampoo, men exercising are working out in Nike or Adidas outfits and beautiful landscapes are often used in car advertisements. However, this strategic way of persuasion can also be done differently: in a way that not only concerns the material goods, but uses the medium of

In ‘Hearts’ (1996) the problem of racism is addressed through similarities in the hearts but the differences in description; Benetton suggests that although people might be labelled as different, our hearts are the same. Together with their slogan, ‘United Colors of Benetton’, this suggests the uniting of people or colour, instead of segregating them. Overall Benetton creates a clear and simple message for its audience; equality instead of racism. Although the purpose of this advertisement is to spread a positive message, instead of selling a product, it has sometimes been perceived as shocking and even disgusting, due to the fact that the imagery consists of realistic seeming human hearts. This ‘shockvertising', resulted in Benetton receiving various complaints from the public after the ‘Hearts’ campaign launched and having to consequently remove the ads from billboards in the United Kingdom. However, there is no such thing as bad publicity: due to these bans a great deal of attention has been given to Benetton for its provocative campaigns, causing it to effectively succeed in raising awareness for one of its many moral

By using people from various cultural backgrounds instead of actors of the same colour, it lays more emphasis on its slogan “United Colors of Benetton”. By uniting people of colour in its own campaigns and by trying to raise awareness about controversial topics, instead of focussing on the products that the company is trying to sell, Benetton deviates from the norm and distinguishes itself form other companies. Through word of mouth and with the help of mass media the brand name is spread more easily, especially when a lot of attention is directed towards its provocative advertisement campaigns. Benetton wants to show its audience that the brand itself not only stands for good quality clothing, but also for clear morals. Over the years, the company has created a well-known and positive brand name as well as worldwide awareness for current social and economical