A few months ago, I was reading something about the portrayal of black people in the media. It got me thinking about the clothing giant United Colors of Benetton. During the 80s and early 90s, United Colors of Benetton was not famous for it’s quality and colourful clothing, but was famous for it’s advertising campaigns under the direction of Oliviero Toscani. During my first year of Uni, we studied semiotics and focused heavily on Benetton‘s advertising campaigns. I remember seeing some of the images for the first time and thinking ‘How could Toscani get away with creating ads like these? Most of them are unethical and have nothing to do with Benetton‘s clothes!’.
After some time my reaction changed to a weird sense of appreciation. Toscani‘s was making me and others think beyond the box! Toscani was placing a mirror in front of the world and telling people ‘Hey look what is going on around you!’
For example the image “Handcuffs” with a Black and White male handcuffed. First instincts when I saw the image? Who’s handcuffing who? The Black man has been cuffed by the white man. Could be vice-versa, or have both men in trouble. We all know that most people will assume that it’s the Black man who has been handcuffed. And then it gets you thinking about colonialism and slavery and why the White race is considered the superior race and so forth. Or the “Black woman breastfeeding white baby”? What does it mean? Slavery – Black Nannies/Maids raising white children as well as breast feeding them? What about the “Angel and Devil” campaign featuring the White blue-eyed girl with angelic-like curls hugging the Black boy with his hair shaped into what looks like devil horns. What is Oliviero Toscani suggesting? That the Black race is considered inferior by the greater mass? So many questions which will never be answered and so many theories created! However, it’s a conversation starter, a thought booster and reality check. And that’s just the beauty of the campaigns.
Although there are some campaigns such as the Death Row campaign which are questionable, for the most part Oliviero Toscani‘s work was and still is bluntly and boldly tells people about issues of racism, death, world strife, and social taboos. Although Toscani no longer works for Benetton, the clothing giant continues to produce campaigns just as controversial and vivid as the ones by Toscani.
SOURCE: UNITED COLORS OF BENETTON
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