So, you want to hear about my attempt to do something like a ‘Benetton ad’? Yeah, that was a bit of a journey, let me tell you. It didn’t quite go as planned, which, looking back, isn’t all that surprising, I guess.
It all started when I volunteered to help with publicity for our little local community fair. You know the type – homemade jams, a bouncy castle, that sort of thing. I got this grand idea. I thought, “Right, instead of the usual cheesy posters, let’s do something bold. Something that gets people talking.” My mind immediately went to those iconic Benetton ads from back in the day. The ones that were super simple but hit you right in the gut. Controversial, sure, but everyone remembered them.
So, I got to work. My concept was to showcase the ‘unity’ of our diverse little town, but with that stark, powerful Benetton aesthetic. I rounded up a few local faces – the old lady from the corner shop, a young lad who helps at the garage, a teacher, a stay-at-home dad. I got them to just stand there, look directly into the camera. No forced smiles, no fancy props. Just them. The photos actually looked pretty striking, I thought. I even had a tagline: “Our Town. Our People.” Simple. Direct.
I was feeling pretty chuffed with myself, thinking I’d created something really meaningful. Then came the presentation to the fair committee. Oh. My. Days. You’d have thought I’d proposed painting the town hall fluorescent pink. Mrs. Higgins, who’s been organizing the cake stall for like, thirty years, she just kept blinking. Mr. Henderson, he’s the chair, he cleared his throat about a dozen times and then finally mumbled something about it being “a bit… stark.”
What they wanted, it turned out, was pictures of:
- Kids laughing on the bouncy castle (which hadn’t even been booked yet).
- Close-ups of prize-winning roses (preferably not starkly lit).
- Maybe a nice shot of the vicar smiling.
They said my photos didn’t “capture the fun.” I tried to explain the whole Benetton idea, the impact, the conversation-starting bit. They just nodded politely and asked if I could maybe add some more color. And glitter. Someone actually suggested glitter.
It kind of took me back to this one time, years ago, I had this wild idea for an anti-smoking campaign. I’d spent ages on it, really gritty, impactful stuff. Showed it to this guy I knew who worked in a small agency. He looked at it, nodded slowly, and then said, “This is art, mate. Great art. But it won’t sell anti-smoking. It’ll just scare people. People don’t want to be scared, they want to be… gently nudged.” That’s what the fair committee wanted: a gentle nudge, not a Benetton-style shove.
In the end, we went with a poster designed by Mr. Henderson’s niece. It had a cartoon sun wearing sunglasses and lots of brightly colored balloons. It was fine. People came to the fair. They bought jam. No one talked about the poster, not in the way I’d hoped they’d talk about mine, anyway. So, my ‘Benetton ad’ experiment? It taught me that there’s a time and a place for being provocative, and the annual community fair, apparently, ain’t it. Sometimes, people just want the cartoon sun. And that’s okay, I suppose. It’s just… not Benetton, is it?