Introduction

The Benetton Group started of as a small family company in 1965, and has now developed into a global icon of casual wear and sportswear.

In the late 1980s Benetton was characterized by institutional campaigns. At this time the company was in the middle of many debates related to some strong advertising images, these where created by the famous Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani. He was the Creative Director of corporate communications for Benetton. Initially the Benetton campaigns were marketed to the carefree teenagers. In the 1990s the Campaigns took a serious, provocative and gloomy tone, for a more adult target market. The campaigns that Benetton create have significant impact related to social themes. Since 1989, for example, some photos had been accused of racist content.  After a little break, in 1991, Benetton began to treat social themes again, alternating ironic tones to strong tones.

Something really good about how the Benetton Group communicate is the fact that it provides people the chance to criticize any abuse. You can’t say the same about many other global corporations. 
(http://www.lescahiersfm.com/it/profili-dimpresa/113-benetton-da-azienda-familiare-a-icona-globale.html)

We chose to use the campaigns created by the Benetton Group because they are controversial and provocative, cause social debate and they are ahead of most other advertisement companies. They are not just about business and money, they want to express their views on the issues currently going on in the world.  We chose this campaign as we felt they had strong points to be discussed applying 3 lenses: feminism, psychoanalysis and Marxism.