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1984 - 1990
United colours of Benetton started launching campaigns in 1984. Toscani himself, the chief executive of Benetton, was the mind behind these campaigns. Benetton felt that their fashion brand should appeal to everyone in the world and therefore they chose to focus on topics such as peace and racial harmony. Due to the controversial input, criticism arose around Benetton. This was not only a negative thing, it caused the company to gain wide awareness on their mission statement. Benetton portrayed their mission statement by using up to date topics, pathos and a certain tone.
Benetton shows their mission statement by making use of topics that appeal to the time they are published in. In the period from 1984 to 1990, the company created campaigns that focused on the topics racism, peace and equality. The Uniting countries campaign is an example that fits the topic of peace. Around this time the United States were in war with the Soviet Union. Besides to this big war, there were many others in the world. Benetton came up with a campaign to stop the war between countries and unite them. The mission statement that can be found in the peace advertisements states that opposites should unite. The Black and white campaigns are examples of racism related campaigns. Besides the fact that racism caused awareness a long time before this and that anti-racism laws were introduced, racism was still a problem on a daily basis. The mission statement of these campaigns was to gain equal rights for everyone and world justice whatever race you was. The United campaign is an example of an equality campaign. Around this time there was a clear division between certain parts of the world concerning skin colour. Benetton’s mission statement implied that despite the fact that we all look different, we are actually all the same. They tried to make an end to inequality based on where you come from. So the choice of topics for Benetton campaigns contributed to their mission statement.
The company expresses their philosophy by using pathos. By appealing to the public’s emotions, people are able to relate the concerning topics to themselves, which strengthens the effectiveness. The “ We are all united “ campaign shows ordinary people from different cultures and countries. Despite the fact that they are different, they are also the same. Everyone seems to have a great time, this results in happy feelings. Therefore we can state that Benetton tries to convey the message that no matter what your gender, age or colour, all people are the same and everyone has to be treated equally.
'' Benetton felt that their fashion brand should appeal to everyone in the world and therefore they chose to focus on topics as peace and racial harmony. ''
Another example that resulted in strong emotions, is the black and white campaign with a black woman breastfeeding a white child. This picture conveys a feeling of unconditional love. Mothers can relate to this advertisement, because they know this feeling of love. This implies that no matter what you look like or where you come from, you deserve the same love. Therefore, their mission statement was equal rights for everyone and world justice. In this particular period of advertisements, pathos plays an important role in achieving the mission statement of Benetton.
The tone is used to spread the mission statement too. In general around this time, the tone could be seen as controversial in almost all campaigns. However, if these commercials would have been published in present time, their mission statement would not have had such a big impact as it had in those days. When looking at, for example, the “Uniting Cultures “ campaign, their mission statement is very strong. However, the way they expose their philosophy is quite soft. The mission statement is to stop violence between different cultures. The different cultures are represented by the different clothing. The topic is harsh, because people were killed because they had a different culture, while the advertisement is soft, because it only shows the solution to the problem and not the reality. Another example of a campaign with a strong tone is the “ United Campaign”. Here the mission
statement was to unify people, because of the clear division between certain parts of the world. The thought behind this advertisement is again very strong and impacting, however the way it is portrayed does not really show the seriousness of the topic. So, we conclude that the controversial Benetton campaigns, in this period, were not that controversial for our generation. Around the time they were published this way of advertising was new, but nowadays we can’t really see the big issue.
To conclude, Benetton portrays their mission statement by using up to date topics, pathos and a certain tone. Between 1984 and 1990 the choice of topics really contributed to their mission statement. Pathos is also very important, as it gives the people the possibility to relate to the situation depicted in the advertisement. This also influences the tone, which seems strong but is in reality not as severe as the actual situation.
'' Benetton portrays their mission statement by using up to date topics, pathos and a certain tone.Pathos is very important as it gives the people the possibility to relate to the situation depicted in the advertisment''