United Colors of Benetton in support of UN Women — End Violence Against Women Now
It goes without saying that United Colors Of Benetton is one of the most popular fashion companies, as it is known for the diversity of their color, their quality and the passion for their work. The brand has made a name for itself, as throughout the years has focused on communicating social issues all over the world, via its campaigns and collaborations with non-profit organisations. For instance, a unique campaign was held on 24 November 2014 in New York for the UN International Day for the elimination of violence against women.
United Colors Of Benetton firmly stated to be in favor of gender equality and empowerment of women, as they should no longer be victims of discrimination, disrespect and abuse. The company wanted to perpetuate the belief that women should live in freedom and should not let their partners, society or religion lead their life. Therefore, United Colors Of Benetton wanted to raise awareness about that critical issue and promote activations and changes to educational system in order to make a different approach to human equality.
In order to achieve these, United Colors Of Benetton promoted a global campaign with images and online videos, that were published by the international press and on social networks. More specifically, in a video a group of men are about to hit with stones a woman fallen on the ground, but eventually they hit her with flower petals. This underlines the powerful meaning of “don’t hit a woman even with flowers”. The company wants to communicate the double meaning of glorifying the existence of a woman and warning against her abuse. Why should women be victims and not subjects of respect?
Furthermore, Fabrica (research center part of Benetton Group) created an art project that includes a series of metal plates representing faces of women who have been violated. They are made of acid and aims to suggest that acid is used to create beauty, not destroy it as has occured in some cases in real life. The company undoubtedly uses stones and acid as a metaphor for all forms of violence against women.
Concluding, 25 November 2014 was the official begging of the Orange Days. On the same day the UNHATE Foundation opened its digital platforms to people who wanted to share a story concerning global issues, with the potential of it being included in the next project of Benetton. These days honoured the battle for women’s right through events that were held all over the world ending at December 10. It was clear that this campaign aimed to represent the deconstruction of prejudices, calling for an end to the culture of violence and strongly affirming that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities in life.
Our team, “ADverturous PRoposals”: Liana Kollia, Korina Simeonidou, eirini*ak, Aimilia29
