By Malay Desai
Benetton’s new ‘Unhate’ ad campaign has got world leaders kissing, (Photoshop standards zooming) and several people outraging. We get you a cross-section of it all...
A pen brand recently used pictures of US President Barack Obama and other world leaders in outdoor advertisements, holding their product at a G20 summit, calling it the ‘official pen’ of some sort. They were promptly laughed upon, perhaps at the notion of the President of America unknowingly selling pens. And you don’t even remember the brand which did this, do you? However, last Wednesday, a clothing company unleashed pictures of the same Obama passionately kissing – or being kissed by, whatever you perceive it as – Chinese Premier Hu Jintao and President of Venezuela Hugo Chavez (in separate print works). The campaign,
portraying top political and religious figures of the world in similar actions, flaunts deft Photoshopping and by the time you read this, would’ve created enough good/bad press for you to know the brand behind it. Yes, United Colors of Benetton (UCB) has launched perhaps its most controversial campaign ever, and is now facing the furore it probably expected. ‘Unhate’, which sounds like a button superhumans of the future would have on their advanced bodies, is the term UCB has focused its initiative on.
Apparently a message to mobilise ‘tolerance and empathy’ amidst a world increasingly being bogged by a ‘culture of hatred’, the Italian apparel-and-shoe company has begun a peace foundation which initialises art projects, promotes education and fights poverty too. Of course you’d only know all this after recovering from the jolt received from the imagery of middle-aged men smooching. We feel it’s a good jolt though, that bold step required to push your brand to newer levels of consciousness. Most of the advertising sages we spoke to, however, seemed to disagree. Colvyn Harris, CEO, JWT India, for instance, cannot help frowning. “This is absolutely in bad taste! If you want to push the concept of unhate, there are better ways than using global leaders in your ads,” he says, adding, “If they were wanting sensationalism, they’ve got it.” And that perhaps ends the argument for many.
The print ads, along with a racy TVC featuring several homosexual couples (including two Muslim women) kissing away to glory have managed to ignite talking points across the world. The Vatican objecting to the Pope’s depiction and Benetton quickly withdrawing the bit, all this within a day of the launch, itself is a win for the marketers . “It’s sensational!” Piyush Pandey reacts. The Executive Chairman & Creative Director,
South Asia, Ogilvy & Mather however, doesn’t want to kiss the UCB logo for its success yet. “The intent of ‘unhate’ is definitely a great one. The execution, however, is a question mark in my head. Actually, many question marks have popped up in my head ever since I saw the images.” he says, “Besides, I don’t know how legal this is!” Legality be damned, we’re sure the creator of this idea, and Alessandro Benetton of course, would currently be having the most gratified laugh of his life watching our outrage.
The company, after all, has had a history of edginess featuring multi-racial people on its merchandise. Lintas Media Group’s CEO Lynn de Souza, another honcho in the ‘watched-itand- disliked-it’ category, isn’t shocked. “This is the way UCB has been doing it. I like their thought of getting world leaders together, and they could only have done it in this funky, irreverent manner,” she says. And wait, we’re laughing too, not only at how Benetton’s got the galleries abuzz with polarised opinion, but also how they’ve admittedly been inspired from the famous kiss Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev planted on his East German counterpart Erich Honecker’s lips in 1979. Unfortunately in 2011, it takes incredible Photoshopping and a pseudosocial campaign to get our jilted leaders to do the same; and even then it causes mass dissent! Fortunately or unfortunately for us Indians, the company re-considered its idea of depicting PM Manmohan Singh getting intimate with Pakistan’s Asif Ali Zardari. That they chose to do this after having gone ahead with showing Pope-Imam, leaders of Israel- Palestine, North-South Korea in the throes of interlocked passion only says that our ultra-sensitive tolerance levels have global repute now. But suppose they’d gone ahead, would we have got the point? “No, it doesn’t work for me. I’m an old-fashioned guy,” Harris admits, adding, “Brands have commitment, they demand our trust; they must keep it up.” Our other reactors too are on the same page, perhaps talking practically than personally. “Kissing is not in our culture. I wouldn’t want to see an India angle in this. If it were upon me, I too wouldn’t have done anything which won’t go down well with the people,” Pandey explains. But in case you’re a creative brain at UCB still mulling an India leg of the campaign, the possibilities are endless. Think Rahul Gandhi sharing a sizzling moment with Mayawati (and swinging the UP polls), or Advaniji sealing his differences with Soniaji with a kiss or Balasaheb Thackeray attempting to make a new ‘alliance’ with the frozen lips of Sharad Pawar. Okay, don’t barf, we’ll stop imagining there. All said and done, no campaign lasts forever and it won’t be long before the billboards bearing the most impossible images of our times are replaced by those of soaps and shampoos. But unlike the one which got the same leaders to hold pens and hardly got anybody talking, we’re not going to forget this brand, for good reasons or bad.
