President Obama kisses Hugo Chavez in new Benetton ad

[MissFit]

Obama kisses Chavez in new Benetton ad
By Maura Judkis

Update Nov. 16, 4:10 p.m.: The Benetton has dropped the image of the Pope kissing an Imam from the campaign after complaints.

Benetton returns to its controversial marketing roots with a new campaign that features President Obama and other world leaders engaging in a kiss. In two separate ads, Obama is seen kissing Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, and Chinese President Hu Jintao.
(Courtesy Unhate)

The Unhate Foundation, founded by the Italian clothing company, is an advocacy group for tolerance. The controversial ad campaign is an attempt for Benetton to regain its status from the “United Colors” ads that regularly shocked viewers with subjects that had nothing to do with clothing: A priest kissing a nun, a man dying of AIDS, a just-born baby with umbilical cord still attached, a trio of real human hearts.

In the new campaign, the leaders of North and South Korea lock lips, and the Pope kisses Ahmed Mohamed el-Tayeb, the Imam of al-Azhar mosque in Egypt. The Vatican condemned the image, and the company decided to remove it from all publications after complaints. German Chancellor Angela Merkel smooches Nicholas Sarkozy, president of France (What will Carla Bruni think?). Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also share a kiss. The campaign was inspired by a kiss between Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and East German communist leader Erich Honecker in 1979.

"It means not hating," Alessandro Benetton, deputy chairman of Benetton Group and son of the founder of the family company told the Wall Street Journal. "In a moment of darkness, with the financial crisis, what's going on in North African countries, in Athens, this is an attitude we can all embrace that can have positive energy."

Skepticism abounds, though — the company’s sales have been dragging, and some are speculating that the ad campaign might just be a way of jolting consumers into remembering the Benetton name. The campaign is the first part of a three-step plan to revive the Benetton brand. According to the WSJ, the brand is also rethinking its clothing lines.

Will the kiss campaign be a turn-on for peace — or for sales? Share your thoughts about the controversial ads in the comments.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas kissing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Courtesy Unhate)

North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Il kissing South Korean President Lee Myung-bak (Courtesy Unhate)



Obama kisses Chavez in new Benetton ad - Arts Post - The Washington Post

[Grimmlok]

of course they drop the pope one *eyeroll*

[Bellatheball]

Stupid. Obama looks like he's enjoying it though. LOL

[nancydrew]

I have the weirdest boner right now

[stef]

i love these. and yeah, obama looks really into it.

[Sleuth]

I actually really hate these ads. I'm not against the message that it is pushing but I just don't think it is right to photoshop people (without permission) doing stuff that they probably do not agree with.

[venue_26]

I actually really hate these ads. I'm not against the message that it is pushing but I just don't think it is right to photoshop people (without permission) doing stuff that they probably do not agree with.

Agreed.....and not to mention the backlash from the dumb asses who won't see these as being photoshopped.

[*DIVA!]

Agreed.....and not to mention the backlash from the dumb asses who won't see these as being photoshopped.

This

[BITTER]

I have the weirdest boner right now

So do I.



It would have been better if he had kissed a Republican.