Benetton ruffles feathers with controversial ‘Unhate’ ad campaign

The central theme of the campaign is that universal symbol of love, the kiss. Only Benetton has depicted the gesture between world leaders who might otherwise be more formal. US President Barack Obama and Chinese leader Hu Jintao are pictured in one example; another shows Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu; and a third puts catholic Pope Benedict XVI and the imam of the Al-Azhar mosque in Cairo (the leading moderate centre for Sunni Islamic studies) Mohamed el-Tayeb.

Benetton says these are symbolic images of reconciliation, "with a touch of ironic hope and constructive provocation". They are designed to "stimulate reflection on how politics, faith and ideas, even when they are divergent and mutually opposed, must still lead to dialogue and mediation".

This worldwide communication campaign was presented by Alessandro Benetton, executive deputy chairman of the Benetton Group, yesterday at the group's  flagship store in Boulevard Haussmann, Paris.

Further to the print images, the 'Unhate' campaign also includes a series of coordinated initiatives and events. The company's China office has confirmed the campaign will not be run on the mainland.

"While global love is still a utopia, albeit a worthy one, the invitation 'not to hate', to combat the 'culture of hatred', is an ambitious but realistic objective," Benetton said during the campaign launch. "At this moment in history, so full of major upheavals and equally large hopes, we have decided, through this campaign, to give widespread visibility to an ideal notion of tolerance and invite the citizens of every country to reflect on how hatred arises particularly from fear of 'the other’ and of what is unfamiliar to us."