The United Colors of Benetton have caused quite a stir with their new UNHATE campaign. Rather than advertising fashion apparel (their product), they’ve taken to delivering an entire campaign that centers around the concept of removing hate from the world. The real buzz though? They’re editing world leaders into the most interesting of poses (see above).
At first, I thought that the company was going entirely for shock value in order to catch consumer attention. As Martin Lindstrom states in Buyology, “when it comes to what truly influences our behavior and gets us to buy, controversy can often be the more potent factor.” It seemed that United Colors of Benetton was simply playing that card for all it was worth, going as far as to cause a scandal relating to an edited image of the Pope and the Imam kissing, which merited the following response from their public relations team:
Ponzano, November 16, 2011.”We reiterate that the meaning of this campaign is exclusively to combat the culture of hatred in all its forms,” said a Benetton Group spokesman. “We are therefore sorry that the use of the image of the Pope and the Imam has so offended the sentiments of the faithful. In corroboration of our intentions, we have decided, with immediate effect, to withdraw this image from every publication.”
Despite the apology, one may still question Benetton’s intentions. After all some argue that any PR is good PR. I certainly believed this to be true and was ready to write about the campaign with a truly critical eye, questioning whether controversy is actually effective when consumers can so easily sense that it has been carefully constructed. That is, until I went to their campaign website.
The organization explains their mission on their site as follows: “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.”
First, it is interesting to note that on all the campaign images, the messaging states that United Colors of Benetton supports the UNHATE foundation, when in fact they created it. It’s an intriguing approach to cause-related marketing. It seems that they recognize the fact that people may not trust their intentions if it’s known that this entire project was constructed by the fashion apparel company, and therefore most likely has ulterior motives other than simply promoting UNHATE. This is a profit maximizing firm after all, not a not-for-profit who is able to spend all their time looking for ways to help others. We already have People For Good doing that, without the muddy line between profit and charity marring their way.
So far, it looks like United Colors of Benetton are simply skewing our perceptions in order to gain attention and draw in more consumers. But then you take a good look around their website and they really do have a full-fledged campaign aimed at making a difference underway. The site outlines the goals and upcoming initiatives of the organization, claiming that “the Foundation will promote projects created by various players from civil society, which aim to spread a culture of tolerance.” They are also aiming to contribute to art initiatives centered around creating tolerance or overcoming conflict.
The campaign launched on November 16th 2011. I still have my doubts and will be interested to see whether the United Colors of Benetton actually work to create real change and tolerance in the global community, or whether they simply play their cards carefully in order to capture consumer attention. Only time will tell how authentic this campaign truly is, and only time will tell whether authenticity even plays a role in how effective this campaign is as a marketing strategy.
I leave you now with the campaign video. Don’t simply enjoy the video -please reflect and critique.
