olivero toscani
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buongiorno
as the "quirky", in-house creative director for the Benetton
Group, Olivero Toscani has shattered every conventionally
held idea regarding the role of advertising. Already an award-
winning photographer, Toscani was hired in 1984 by Luciano
Benetton to exclusively head the company's advertising campaign.
Not an
easy task. You see, there are over 7,000 Benetton stores in
over 120 countries and Toscani had to meet an extremely
specific communication goal: to produce international
campaigns of global concern for global consumers.
as a result, Toscani produces campaigns that are international,
homogeneous and characterized by universal themes.
According to Benetton, the advertising has become "not only a
means of communication but an expression of our time."
welcome to Toscani's world.
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onadvertising
faced with such a mountainous task, it is no wonder that
Toscani has developed firm beliefs on his approach to
advertising. In fact, he has frequently expressed his ideas in
interviews, trade magazines and conferences around the
world:
"advertising is the richest and most powerful form of communication in
the world. We need to have images that will make people think and
discuss."
"ad agencies are obsolete. They're out of
touch with the times;
they're far too comfortable. When the client is happy, they stop
trying.
They don't want to know what's going on in the world. They create
a
false reality and want people to believe in it. We show reality and
we're criticized for it."
"our advertising is a Rorschach test of what
you bring to the image.
You can see a news photo of the fighting in Sarajevo and it's in
context; it conforms to your expectations. Shocking violence in the
news is normal. But when you take the same photo out of the news
and put a Benetton logo on it, people pause and reflect on
their position on the problem."
"research? we try to do the very opposite.
We try to make our ads
personal. If you do research, you get yesterday's results.
If they did
research five hundred years ago, they never would have discovered
America. They would have found out the world is flat. You have
to
have the courage to make mistakes. Everything we do is about
impulse, about guts. That's what built Benetton."
with
an understanding of Toscani's philosophies,we are better able to
understand the advertising that he creates.
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theads
toscani's early work presented youthful images
from culturally diverse
nations. Colorfully dressed in Benetton attire, the young people
engaged in a variety of playful acts. By linking the varying
colors in
the Benetton collection to the diverse "colors" of its world customers,
Toscani presented a theme of racial harmony and world peace. From
these ads grew the inspirational trademark still used today: "United
Colors of Benetton."
toscani later introduced a shift in his creative approach in 1991, when
he completely removed Benetton merchandise from the advertising.
Instead, Toscani assumed a strategy in which social issues played the
major role - allowing for a communication on themes relevant to
everyone, everywhere. The ads were a means to draw attention to
important social problems and thereby generate public discussion.
toscani says: "unlike traditional advertisements,
our images
usually have no copy and not product, only our logo. They
do not tell anyone to buy our clothes, they do not even imply it.
All they attempt to do is promote a discussion about issues
which people would normally glide over if they approached
them from other channels, issues we feel should be more
widely discussed." Hence, advertising that speaks across all cultural
boundaries and raises social awareness by presenting powerful
human and universal themes.
from 1989, the print ad below appeared as part of a campaign
entitled "Contrasts
in Black & White" and was designed to promote
racial equality.
More specifically, the true spirit of the ad was to
convey the idea
that "equality goes beyond knee-jerk reactions and
conventional perceptions.
Despite being the most awarded ad in
Benetton's history,
the image sparked unprecedented controversy and
was subsequently
banned in the United States given the historical
connotations of slavery and racism.
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appearing as part of the REALITY campaign, Toscani used an image
Guisy - a newborn - trailing her uncut umbilical cord. In Toscani's
view,
the photograph was chosen to simply convey the beauty of new life.
More specifically, the ad was to convey the universal idea of love as a
force from which life itself is born and that a baby symbolizes the most
permanent form of love. The ad set off unprecedented controversy
throughout Europe. At the same time, however, the image was
exhibited in a Flemish museum as part of a show celebrating the
images of motherhood.
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featured as part of the Spring/Summer 1991 RACE campaign, this
ad portrayed ethnically diverse children gleefully sticking out their
tongues. Toscani's vision for the advertisement was to promote the
idea that even thought the children are of a different 'color' their
tongues are all the same. Again, amidst controversy (especially in
the Arab states where the display was considered pornographic) won
awards in Britain and Germany.
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the style of the 1992 campaign was shocking and realistic. The ad
entitled "AIDS" was one of the most powerful in the campaign.
Featuring a photograph chosen by Toscani, the ad presented David
Kirby, a dying AIDS activist, surrounded by members of his grieving
family. The ad was to act as a window to the horrific reality of
the
disease while educating the public of the diseases' pervasiveness.
In fact, the parents of David Kirby advocated the use of the image as
as way to denounce the disease.
this particular ad perhaps best illuminated Toscani's goal of
presenting "truthful" advertising. "I called the picture of David
Kirby
and his family "La Pieta" because it is a Pieta which is real. The
Michelangelo's Pieta during the Renaissance might be fake, Jesus
Christ may never have existed. But we know this death happened.
This is the real thing."
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theawards
for his work, Toscani has garnered more than 50 awards in 16
different countries.
in
1994, the Art Directors Club of New York
awarded Toscani a
Management Medal for "Benetton's socially conscious advertising
and most specifically for raising awareness of racial issues for an
entire generation." The Club, which encourages excellence in
communication explained: "Your exceptional contribution to
Benetton's advertising, which visually articulates strong political and
ethical ideas, made you our unanimous choice for the award this
year."
what follows, is a brief list of prizes and awards presented
to Toscani
through the course of his career:
argentina: "best institutional campaign
of the month"
subject:
eyes year: 1995
austria:
Magistrat der Stadt Wien Kulturabteilung Award
golden plate year:
1989
best outdoor of the year
subject: AIDS year: 1993
denmark: Arets Guldkrone
subject: breasts year: 1990
france:
XXXleme Grand Prix de la Publicite
subject: breasts year: 1990
Gran Prix du Club Europeens des Directeurs
Artistiques
year: 1990
germany: Art Directors
Club of Europe - gold
year: 1991
holland:
Avenue Award
subject: baby year: 1991
italy:
Print Italia - Grand Prix
subject: baby year: 1989
Art Directors Club Italiano
japan: Tokyo Art Director's Club - Grand Prix
u.k.:
1st Eurobest Award - finalist
year: 1988
u.s.a:
International Andy Award of Excellence
year: 1990/91
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artshows
the elevation of Toscani's work from advertising and mass
communication is best illustrated by the exhibits of his ads in major art
galleries around the world.
in the summer of 1995, the largest cultural center in Chile hosted an
exhibition at the Estacion Mapocho entitled "Toscani al Muro" -
Toscani against the wall. The show was devoted to the images
created by Toscani for United Colors of Benetton as part of a traveling
bi-annual arts festival that would later travel to the Museum of Modern
Art in Mexico City. The Estacion Mapocho wanted to display the
expression of a "new advertising language" through Toscani's
controversial work while "contributing to the discussion of the power
and values of Benetton's images."
accompanying the exhibition is a catalogue that documents the lively
debate elicited by Toscani's advertising imagery. The catalogue
includes the reactions of various South American personalities in
addition to comments made by David
Bowie, Spike Lee and Roy
Lichtenstein. When asked about Benetton's approach to
communication, Lichtenstein says: "They are at the vanguard of
advertising art." Such comments and reactions are presented to
promote discourse among the museum's patrons while 'reading' the
images.
in addition to the above exhibit, Toscani's work was presented in
1997 at the ex-Leopolda Station in Florence - called "Facce/Faces".
The show housed in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Lusanne in
1995 entitled "Benetton par Toscani" was dedicated entirely to
Toscani's work. This exhibit marked the first time that his images
were to be viewed in a museum of modern art.
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thecritiques
despite all of the praise and recognition, Benetton's advertising has
been a source of heated debate both within and outside of the
advertising community. As you can imagine, the criticism generally
stems from the 'provocative' imagery that Toscani presents. But they
are always a focal point of discussion and a confrontation of ideas.
Rather than dwell on analytical deconstruction of the ads, let's
look at how Toscani responds to these critics:
"when journalists focus on strange and serious topics, nobody
criticizes them for trying to sell their stories to the media. Yet,
when an
advertisement touches on a real problem, everybody is immediately
up in arms and protests that it's in bad taste. It seems that an
advertisement which misleads the consumer with deception and lies
is considered more correct."
"new things are always attacked. But time is on our side. What
was
shocking three years ago is accepted today. We are a little bit in
advance of everyone."
typical in the journey of toscani's career at Benetton, once the period
of rejection subsided, the ad usually became understood and
appreciated. The ads were not designed to offend, but rather to raise
consciousness.
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lafabrica
in 1993, Toscani founded Fabrica
- a research center for
communications. In Latin, fabrica means "factory" but Toscani's
Fabrica is not as dark and mundane. You won't find rows of
disgruntled employees churning out factory-produced dolls or
checking for crooked labels. Instead, the types of "workers"
that Fabrica seeks are the most polished students from creative
schools around the world - stressing multicultural interplay.
fabrica is a school unlike any other - where they are no lessons,
seminars, professors or final exams. The young artists/researchers
invited to partake in Toscani's vision learn by doing. They are pushed
to find new art forms and an artistic language that informs, criticizes
and provokes the conventional rhetoric of the mass media.
fabrica invites the participants to challenge and question modern
means of communication. The driving force behind the activities at
Fabrica is doubt: to question what you see and hear. The ultimate
goal is to uncover new forms of visual and aural communication and to
realize that creativity is not an abstract phenomenon. It is an idea
that
becomes a reality.
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arrivederci
olivero Toscani is truly a pioneer in the advertising world - whether
through his avant philosophies on communication, his re-interpretation
of advertising art, or in his attempt to mold young minds into thinking
about the world in a new light.
in an industry that prides itself on risk-taking and challenging the
known, Toscani rises to the front and reminds us of the true power
in creating advertising that re-evaluates the very institution.
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the following resources were used throughout this site:
Benetton Group S.P.A. (1992).
United Colors: A brief History.
[Brochure]. New York: Author.
Buck, Rinker (1994). "The United Color of Benetton: Red Ink" in
Adweek's Marketing Week, p. 14.
Evans, Ian G. and Sumandeep Riyait (1993), "Is the Message Being
Received? Benetton Analysed," International Journal of
Advertising, 12, 291-301.
Giroux, Henry A. (1994). "Benetton: Buying Social Change" in
Disturbing Pleasures: Learning Popular Culture, New York:
Routledge Press.
Tinic, Serra A. (1997). "United Colors and United Meanings:
Benetton and the Commodification of Social Issues," Journal of
Communication, 47(3), 3-23.
www.benetton.com
www.fabrica.com