Benetton Uses Internet To Cast Ad Campaign
One month ago, United Colors of Benetton launched their global model casting competition by utilizing the social media tools so many companies are still trying to figure out.
Benetton is a brand that, historically, has never been afraid of change or pushing the envelope with advertising. Oliviero Toscani’s controversial ads in the late 80′s included images of a priest kissing a nun, and an Arab and a Jew standing together as friends.
Then there was the infamous image of a new born baby covered in blood, umbilical cord still attached. The company called the ad “an anthem to life.” What it turned into was one of the most censored and controversial ads in fashion history.
Benetton’s next ad campaign: You.
It’s My Time is a global search for new, interesting people and styles for the brand’s 2010 ad campaign. The hook? No models allowed.
“This is an opportunity to find a common ground and create a melting pot of old media with new media, the young and the not so young, the online and the offline, the traditional and the innovative,” Benetton explained.
And with highly interactive tools such as profile creation, webcam technology that allows users to play around with an “augmented reality,” and photo uploading tools (Style Sheets anyone?), Benetton is making a statement not only in the advertising realm, but in the use of technology in the fashion world.
100 winners will be published in a United Colors of Benneton book and receive a 200 euro shopping spree. 20 winners will be flown to New York City to be photographed by Josh Olins for the company’s 2010 Fall/Winter catalogue.
Like any good online community, It’s My Time left the first round of winners in the hands of the community itself. The first 100 winners were picked by none other than you. The 20 finalists were chosen by a Benetton panel of judges.
While the competition itself may have ended – winners were announced late last week — It’s My Time stays intact and boisterous, continuing its message of different ideals of beauty and style being celebrated on an online platform.
As always, we applaud Benetton for being groundbreaking and take a risk. For so many companies, it seems to risky; it seems too out of the box. Well, thank you Benetton, for taking a risk and inviting the everyday person to participate in a worldwide fashion campaign.
If you missed out on the chance to be Benetton’s fresh new face, you can still “show the world your real self,” as the campaign asks you to do, and create an It’s My Time profile.
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