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| Online morphing of the original Benetton ad - done this way to stop the blog from being flagged |
Adidas just issued its new bra ad... with no bras in sight? What is in sight though is what bras are supposed to cover. Breasts of all shapes and sizes for everyone to see - and the message is clear, "the reasons why we didn't make just one sports bra".
Is it bold? Yes.
Did it get everyone talking about the brand? Yes.
Has it been done before? Sadly, yes.
In 1993, Benetton then at the height of the Oliviero Toscani powers of shock (full disclaimer, I worked with the team of COLORS magazine which was then led by Toscani between 1996 and 2001), issued an ad that was banned. But banning it only added fuel to the fire, because everyone talked about it even more.
The ad? 56 genitals. All bare, for everyone to see. And of course that ubiquitous logo "United Colors of Benetton". So, did Adidas dip its bra ad in a Benetton sauce?
I would have loved to post both ads (and I have both in my archive) for the readers to see, but I do not wish to have my blog flagged for indecent content. So above is a modified rendering of the original Benetton ad.