How are race
and identity constructed and perceived in Benetton advertisements?
Benetton’s early advertising campaigns
seem to follow the standard kinds of conventions used in traditional
advertisements. The shift in advertising strategy between 1983 and 1991 on
initial inspection uses racial harmony and ethnic diversity as its focal point.
This is when the ads start to break the conventional codes of advertising by
ignoring the visual representation of the product, and instead become engaged
in the problems of racism. These campaigns were titled ‘Race’ and ‘Contrasts in
Black an White’. They depict images of racial and ethnic difference, which
caused a large amount of controversy. The switch in the ad campaign reflects
Oliviero Toscanis attempt to transform Benetton’s brand identity. The change of
emphasis from selling a product to focusing on cultural conflicts and social
issues is seen to be an endeavor to redefine Benetton’s image to one of
corporate responsibility. This controversial ad campaign blurs the boundaries
between the image being viewed as a document and as an advertisement. ‘The
‘unity’ proposed by Benetton is intended as a good thing, but the existence of
cultural groups for whom such unity is abhorrent generates alternative meanings’
(Barnard, 2005 p 91). It also arises the issues of commodity culture, using
cultural difference to sell mundane products.
The main focus
of Benetton’s ads of course was intended to be that of racial harmony and to
communicate the idea of all people being members of the same family. This
however was not the interpretation that everyone withdrew from the campaign.
Bell Hooks for example took an entirely different meaning, viewing the campaign
negatively. Supposedly ‘racially diverse images’ ‘exploit Otherness in order to
increase product sales’ (Barnard, 2005 p 89). The ads have an underlying
traditional function- brand recognition; the truth is cultural difference
sells. Using the importance of the social situations to sell a product can be
seen as exploitative. People react to this and give in to the product in order
to make them feel they are doing something worthy or moral by choosing a brand
that is socially aware. However the ads depict striking imagery, yet no text or
further information highlighting the conflicts and issues shown. This shows how
promotional culture is increasingly using different tactics to sell its
corporate image as opposed to a product. It employs a postmodern strategy that
reinvents the advertising style to sell to media saturated consumers. When
looking at the campaign in more depth, it appears that Benetton take advantage
of serious issues, employing the shock tactic in order to build brand
recognition.
A number of authors have expressed
varied views on how race is perceived in Benetton ads. Sturken and Cartwright,
(2001), Alcoff, (2002) and Kellner, (1994) have all commented on how the media
uses connotations of racial awareness in order to sell products. The portrayal
of race gives the product an element of cultural sophistication. For instance
Sturken and Cartwright in ‘Practices of Looking’ state how the ads are intended
to signify racial harmony and ethnic diversity, however the message is often
distorted depending on who is viewing it. For example, Benetton produced an
advertisement displaying a black woman breastfeeding a white baby. This
controversial image is open to a broad range of different perceptions; varying
depending on which context it is viewed.
‘While in certain
contexts, this image might connote racial harmony, in the United States it
carried other connotations, most troubling the history of slavery in the United
States and the use of black women slaves as “wet nurses” to breastfeed the
white children of their owners.’ (Sturken and Cartwright, 2001 p 40)
Oliviero Toscani, Benetton
Campaign, Autumn- Winter 1989
The obvious intention of this image is
to communicate an inter-racial mother-child relationship, and draw attention to
the issue of racism in attempt to signify racial unity as a positive thing. The
media is an extremely influential outlet when tackling such issues. ‘Media
images help shape our view of the world and our deepest values: what we
consider good or bad, positive or negative, moral or evil.’ (Kellner, 1994) This
advertisement in particular caused quite a stir. Despite Toscani's anti-racist
intentions, the meaning becomes distorted and instead translates into one that
is both offensive and highly controversial. ‘The image’s meanings are over determined by historical factors’
(Sturken and Cartwright, 2001 p 40) This is greatly due to the sensitivity of
the subject, being seen in some people’s eyes to reinforce the racist and
old-fashioned view of the black nanny. Another advertisement to be withdrawn in
the United States was an image depicting two men handcuffed together, one white
and one black. The close up framing that is also used in a number of other
Benetton ads, can be seen to reflect the claustrophobic environment that people
of different cultures, living different lifestyles are forced to endure. The
problem perceived in this particular advertisement was that the black man was
interpreted as a criminal and the white man as a police officer. The offense
that these examples cause are conjured during the interpretation, the
denotations of the images are simple and clear. Quite innocently one depicts a
woman breastfeeding a child and the other, two men handcuffed together. The
problem lies in the connotation of the images, which is the level at which the
meaning is transformed. There is no physical suggestion in the second image
that the black man is the criminal, but the cultural and social history of the
individual viewing the ad determines what assumptions are made and what meaning
is withdrawn. ‘To interpret images is to examine the assumptions that we and
others bring to them, and to decode the visual language that they speak’ (Sturken
and Cartwright, 2001 p 41). This view is deeply cynical in the way that it
commercialises all aspects of life, even issues taken from the third world.
Oliviero Toscani, Benetton Campaign, Autumn- Winter
1989
Alcoff comments on the different ways
in which the people perceive race, stating that the media (Benetton) creates a distinction
between different races. This highlights the different meanings of race. ‘Its
meanings have always been mediated through visual appearance, however
complicated’ (Alcoff, 1996). Is race something purely physical that is
something to be seen? If so then does it legitimise the act of identifying a
person by the act of racial stereotyping? People are often identified and
judged by the colour of their skin, colour being the easiest way to determine a
person’s race. Visual conventions are the primary means in which people understand
the world around them. ‘Rather than presenting the world icons represent it’
(Gilman, 1987) Race has no one meaning, but its meanings have always been
interpreted through visual appearances.
By using models of different
ethnicities in its ads, Benetton attempts to establish an idea of difference in
order to distinguish its brand identity. Difference in this case is
demonstrated through marking. ‘The unmarked category is the unquestioned
norm and the marked category is the
one seen as different or other.’
(Sturken and Cartwright, 2001 p 221). This is to say that nonwhite models are immediately marked by
their race, and the white models’ race is not acknowledged. It could be argued
that Benetton uses models of mixed ethnicities in its ads in an attempt to unmark race, but in turn still creates a
meaning of social awareness. Surely it is not possible to do both; by
commenting on different races mixing together so obviously is to highlight it,
making it seem like something out of the ordinary. The media constructs for the
viewer a definition of what race is and what meaning the imagery of race
carries. Ideas of race in media are constantly worked on and transformed, ‘It
would be wrong and misleading to see the media as uniformly and
conspiratorially harnessed to a single, racist conception of the world.’ (Hall,
1997). This perhaps leads the
viewer to inferential racism? A representation of events and situations
relating to race leaves room for only propositions of unquestioned assumptions.
In a sense this manipulates people into making racist assumptions.
Benetton ads
play a key role in commodity culture, although very few of them show any sign
of the product itself. In postmodern advertising, simply showing the product to
the customer has become so lacking in originality it has become obvious and
boring, so companies need to reinvent new and clever ways to stop “page
traffic” in order to promote their brand. ‘Advertising functions in a much more
indirect way to sell lifestyle and identification with brand names and
corporate logos.’ (Sturken and Cartwright, 2001 p 198) Benetton advertisements
gives the viewer a sense of being able to buy their way into multiculturalism,
promoting diversity as being progressive and “hip”. This can be perceived as
good thing, making people more aware of racial diversity and communicating it
in a positive light. It can also however, be viewed negatively. The ads give
the viewer a sense of “exoticism” making skin colour fashionable, as if it is
possible to buy ones way into a different culture through commodities, giving
them a sense of “otherness” and a feeling of belonging to an individual group. On
the other hand, it provokes everyone to buy into the same thing, condoning
conformist behaviour and erasing difference and individuality. ‘Ironically,
while these products promise to white consumers the qualities of otherness, commodity culture is about
the denial of difference, in that it encourages conformist behaviour through
the act of consumption.’ (Sturken and Cartwright, 2001 p 221) It is arguable
that this postmodern style of advertising and the use of important social
issues to sell everyday products blur the boundaries between using imagery for
documentary purposes and for advertising. This reworks the role of the
advertisement and strips it of its potential to move us in a purposeful way. It
removes the possibility of change, reducing the meaning and impact that the
image could have on the viewer. Using race in such a way that it objectifies
it, spawning colour prejudices. This poses the question ‘Does a political
statement have any force when it is an integral part of an ad selling a product?’
(Sturken and Cartwright, 2001 p 276).
Benetton’s ‘Race’
and ‘Contrasts in Black and White’ advertising campaigns definitely communicate
an element of cultural sophistication. While it is clear that their intent is
to convey ethnic diversity and racial harmony, it still comes across as
exploiting issues for the benefit of the brand. Although, as Lawrence Soley
states ‘Advertising professionals are businessmen first and moralists second.’
(Soley, 1983 p 690) The ads tap into people’s emotions, making them feel that
if they give in to the brand then they will somehow be contributing to or
supporting racial togetherness. ‘Benetton is selling a celebration and erasure
of difference and a kind of universal humanism.’ (Sturken and Cartwright, 2001
p 222). It is difficult to believe that Benetton’s intentions are entirely innocent;
after all they are trying to sell a product so there is always going to be an
element of self-gain. It is hardly arguable however, that Benetton bring light
to a diverse range of racial and social issues. This can only be seen as a good
thing, awareness is what drives change and eliminates prejudice. What does it
matter if the alterior motive is to sell products to create profit, if it
creates social awareness and influences the greater good? Any racist
connotations withdrawn from these campaigns are merely a result of the
assumption that social issues involving crime and turmoil are directed towards
the ethnic minority. The intent of this campaign is to be controversial, but by
no means racist.
Bibliography
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and Cartwright, L. (2001) Practices of
Looking, New York, Oxford University press
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Barnard, M. (2005) Graphic Design as Communication, New York, Routledge
