Fashion retailer Benetton blasted for controversial ad picturing migrants

The Italian clothing giant has over the years often provoked controversy to generate publicity.

2 min read

20 June, 2018

Screengrab of controversial Benetton ad campaign picturing migrants aboard a dinghy [Twitter]

French charity SOS Mediterranee lashed out at fashion retailer United Colors of Benetton over a controversial ad campaign featuring a photograph of migrants being rescued at sea.

The picture, which ran online and in print newspapers, showed migrants aboard a dinghy wearing life vests. The image was stamped at the bottom with a "United Colors of Benetton" logo.

The "dignity of survivors must be respected at all times," said SOS Mediterannee. "The human tragedy at stake in the Mediterranean must never be used for any commercial purposes."

"SOS Mediterranee does not give its consent for any commercial use of its pictures."

Benetton published two publicity photographs on its Twitter account featuring migrants, one credited to SOS Mediterannee and another to the Italian news agency ANSA.

A ship operated by SOS Mediterannee, the Aquarius, rescued 630 migrants in the Mediterranean last week. The vessel was caught in a major row after Italy's populist government refused to allow the migrants to disembark.

The migrants, among them scores of children, were eventually taken to Spain.

Twitter Post

Benetton has been criticised in the past for its shock publicity campaigns. Campaigns showing an AIDS patient, a black woman breastfeeding a white child and even former pope Benedict kissing a senior Egyptian imam have all sparked widespread controversy.

The photographer, Oliviero Toscani, behind much of the brand's most controversial work returned to the company this year after a 17-year hiatus.

"Art has to be provocative, to provoke conversation, to provoke interest. Otherwise what the hell are you doing it for? If people criticise you, they are interested in you. So, it is an honour to be criticised," he told Vogue in a February profile.

Benetton was founded by an Italian family and is headquartered in Ponzano Veneto, Italy. The group posted a $210 million loss for 2017, the largest in its history.

Agencies contributed to this report.

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