Branded by Society

February 1992 - AIDS - David Kirby
In 1992 UCB launched its first campaign on the HIV-virus. Here you can see a man dying of AIDS, surrounded by his family. UCB mentions that this is a way to denounce the dangers of AIDS and a means of continuing the battle against this terrible disease after the death.


Interesting is that UCB had the permission of David Kirby's father to publish this picture. Still, this picture was haunted by critics back then. In as well as Germany as The Netherlands, this advertisement was found to be illegal. According to a public poll in The Netherlands, 75 % of the people interviewed qualified the advertisement as 'bad' or 'very bad' (Brandstaetter, 1997).


September 1993 - HIV Positive

These three photographs - an arm, a lower abdomen and a bottom marked with the letters H.I.V. - are used as metaphors for the more extensive branding practised throughout society towards those that are different. This campaign was also under heavy criticism, as can be read in the following news article.

Nine face trial over Benetton protest: Case revives dispute over HIV imagery in adverts

HEATHER MILLS, Home Affairs Correspondent

Monday, 17 January 1994

THE CONTROVERSY surrounding Benetton's advertising campaigns will be reopened today when nine people go on trial following a protest at the Italian clothing company's London headquarters in September last year.

The eight men and one woman were demonstrating against what they claimed was the use of 'exploitative HIV imagery' to launch Benetton's 1993 autumn and winter collection.

The advertising campaign consisted of a series of three photographs featuring different parts of the body - an arm, a lower abdomen and a bottom - each branded with the words 'HIV Positive'.

Like some of Benetton's other campaigns - the bloodsmeared new-born baby, the white angel and black devil children, a man dying of Aids and most recently a seabird covered in oil - it provoked complaints in this country and abroad. In France a man with Aids launched his own counter poster campaign, with an image of his own gaunt face and the caption: 'During the agony, the sale continues.'

Benetton, which has always defended its campaigns as attempts to raise political and social awareness, claims that the HIV-positive images are 'complex metaphors for the more extensive branding practised throughout society'.

The protesters disagreed. Waving posters and chanting slogans at Benetton's offices, they claimed the image pandered to hostility and prejudice against people living with the virus.

Outrage, the gay and lesbian group which organised the protest with Act Up - the Aids Coalition to Unleash Power - said yesterday there had been a series of recent gay-bashing incidents in which people had been beaten by attackers shouting: 'Where's your tattoo, queer?'

The nine were arrested after police were called to Benetton's offices. All face charges of threatening behaviour under the Public Order Act and two are accused of assaulting police. They deny all the charges.

Chris Tyler of Outrage said: 'With the trial, Benetton are once again attempting to silence the legitimate concerns of the communities affected by HIV and Aids. They are exploiting the suffering of people living with Aids as promotion for knitwear.'

(The Independent, 1994)

Sources


Brandstaetter, J. (1997). The Benetton Campaign. Retrieved on October 30, 2010, from http://www.fdblawyers.com/library/articles/benetton-campaign.html


Mills, H. (1994, January 17). Nine face trial over Benetton protest: Case revives dispute over HIV imagery in adverts. The Independent UK.


United Colors of Benetton (2010). About Benetton - Our Campaigns. Retrieved on October 31, 2010, from http://press.benettongroup.com/ben_en/about/campaigns/list/