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r ecyc l es Ads With A Conscience
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Visually arresting and verbally daring, some
advertisements woo consumers by taking a stand.
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M
ost companies want to
sell a product; some com-
panies try to sell an im-
age; and a few
companies, like Kenneth Cole,
hope to sell a product, an image
and a political ideology.
"We think women should
have a choice when it comes to
being pregnant," reads a mag-
azine advertisement for the
shoe designer. "Barefoot is an-
other story."
Since Benetton paved the
way in the mid-'80s, numerous
companies have taken to im-
buing their advertising with so-
cial and/or political messages,
a strategy that has occasional-
ly backfired but more often than
not drawn attention for its
chutzpah, daring or sensitivity.
The Kenneth Cole market-
ing campaign, an irreverent
marriage of liberal values and
old-fashioned commerce, takes
a bold step in that direction.
And by doing so, it receives
prominent attention in the Cen-
ter for Creative Studies' new ex-
hibit, "Ads with a Conscience,"
at the Center Galleries.
The show traces the history
of this so-called "point-of-pur-
chase politics" trend in adver-
tising over the past decade with
examples from clothing de-
signer Moschino, Tanqueray
gin, Diesel jeans, Microsoft,
Miller Brewing Company and
others. It also delves into the
controversy that often arises
when capitalism co-opts social
causes to help sell a product.
"Peoplettre fascinated with
how we're manipulated (by ad-
vertising)," says Gallery Direc-
tor Dennis Nawrocki. "And all
of it's manipulation, even these
social-cause things."
Nawrocki has spent the past
five years in particular follow-
ing the cause-related market-
ing trend, sifting through
mainly alternative publications
(such as Interview and Out)
where the most controversial of
the ads naturally run.
His curiosity was piqued, like
many, in the '80s when Italian
clothing company Benetton be-
gan running ads featuring mod-
els of different races hugging
and holding hands. In 1985,
some American Jews took ex-
ception to a Benetton billboard
featuring young Arab and Jew-
ish boys embracing, while dol-
lar bills stuck out of their
pockets.
The company's outspoken cre-
ative director, Oliviero Toscani,
went on to create ads showing a
black woman nursing a white
baby and a nun kissing a priest.
It's so nice that
homosexuals, Jews
and terrorists have a_
newspaper to read.
The '90s saw Benetton use some-
times shocking news photographs
to capture attention: South Amer-
ican children being exploited as la-
borers, a car engulfed in flames on
Above: This AIDS-
awareness ad, by Italian
designer Moschino,
features the elegant
director of research for the
French National Institute
of Health. The bodice of
the dress is covered with
condom packets.
Left: The New York-based
Village Voice makes fun of
its liberal reputation in a
new series of ads.