We, On The Death Row
“WE, ON DEATH ROW” BENETTON’S CAMPAIGN Since 1989, Benetton officially
adopted the trademark, United Colors of Benetton, initiating and formalizing
more than ten years strategy to radically transform the face of conventional
advertising. In place of the product, Benetton presented powerful and
problematic visual images of social issues of universal importance such as
environmental disasters, peace, AIDS, terrorism, murder, tolerance of diversity
and struggle against racism. Benetton’s advertising campaigns and social
communication strategies are a clear echo of contemporary culture and society.
Benetton’s United Colors Campaign transformed the traditional notions of
advertising, so that the goal is no longer to simply sell their products, the
brand name or to create a desire. Instead, their campaigns promote social
concerns, critiques and ideologies. Since Oliviero Toscani, photographer and
creative director of Benetton advertising, arrived to the company, controversy
has accompanied every campaign. Since then, campaigns have been based on
photographs and journals. The use of crisis-torn images for commercials ends is
what causes disturb to audiences, but has allowed Toscani to use a commercial
medium for humanitarian ends.
Because of the mentioned above, Benetton moreover
than being just a clothing store, has become into a social entity. Where it’s
not only having a relationship with people because of fashion, but also has
established relationship through sports (basketball, rugby, volleyball, and
cars), and social concerns around the world. “We, On Death Row” is a $20 million
project. Created by Benetton in association with the National Association of
Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) and the international death penalty
abolitionist group, Rome- based Hands Off Cain. The campaign contains 26
photographs of people on death row with their names, ages and execution day over
the words “sentenced to death”. This campaign has already appeared in the Talk
magazine with a special 100 pages brochure along with interviews (innocent
interviews) made by the journalist Ken Schulman (a collaborator of the Newsweek
magazine). This pictures has also appear on billboards, posters, newspapers and
obviously available in the Benetton web page. There have been a great variety of
reactions and opinions regarding these images. And because of this it is
important to mention the positive and negative aspects about the campaign,
establishing it in a global perspective (not with an American perspective). I am
analyzing the campaign in a global perspective, because it is not a campaign
targeted only to the U.S. public. It is a campaign designed to target people
throughout the world. And even though the campaign was “produced” in the U.S.,
the U.S market is not the only one and even more it is not the principal market.
