Marketing through censorship

Benetton Ad's Opponents Fail

Published: October 19, 1991

PARIS, Oct. 18 — A court today rejected a complaint demanding that the Italian clothing maker Benetton withdraw up to 1,300 billboard advertisements showing a priest kissing a nun.

A Roman Catholic citizens group said in the complaint that the depiction of a collar- wearing priest kissing a nun in full habit on the mouth was "a particularly serious offense to Catholics."

The Advertising Verification Office, an ad industry watchdog group, also criticized the poster, saying it "went against generally accepted beliefs." The office is not empowered to ban the poster, but can recommend its removal.

The court ruled the advertisement did not constitute an act that could be characterized as anti-Christian.

Benetton declined comment on the complaints about the ad campaign, which is scheduled to conclude Monday.

(New York Times, 1991)

September 1991 - Priest and Nun. Guess what advertisement this news article is about. Yes indeed, our blog background. We thought that this would be one of the most controversial advertisements in the campaign history of UCB, therefore putting it on the background. For many catholic people, this campaign had affected their religious feelings and therefore they saw it as an offensive advertisement. Especially in Italy, a catholic country. It is no surprise that this advertisement was found to be illegal and therefore not shown in Italy (Brandstaetter,1997).
As stated in the news article, court ruled that the advertisement did not constitute an act that could be characterized as anti-Christian. However, UCB still withdrew this advertisement from many billboards. Just as some other advertisement campaigns.

September 1991 - Newborn Baby
Both advertisements from 1991 was an attempt of UCB to feature images from the real world that have some social or universal relevance, in order to break through the barrier of indifference which often surrounds these issues.
This billboard advertisement was also pulled out, after heavy public protests from France, Italy and the United Kingdom.

However, we consider the voluntary removal of these billboard advertisements as part of UCB's marketing strategy. By removing they got even more media attention - free advertisement - and they made the mass aware of the excistence of censorship. Although their advertisements were not officially banned, UCB still created a sense of censorship with as their final goal to emphasize that advertisements are like artworks.


Sources

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

The New York Times (1991, October 19). Benetton Ad's Opponent Fail. Retrieved on October 30, 2010, from http://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/19/business/benetton-ad-s-opponents-fail.html

United Colors of Benetton (2010). About Benetton - Our Campaigns. Retrieved on October 30, 2010, from http://press.benettongroup.com/ben_en/about/campaigns/list/