From building a temple and statues, UCB takes on the routine hollow promises made by dominant faces prior to every election season in its video titled UnitedByVote.
United Colors of Benetton (UCB) as a brand, has always believed in taking up social causes in advertising. In fact, they have often gone overboard with their cause-related campaigns and let the depiction of social activism do all the talking. This is evident from previous campaigns like 'Unhate' (a shot from the campaign depicted Pope Benedict XVI kissing a top Egyptian imam and had to be withdrawn from the campaign after being condemned by the Vatican) and 'Unemployee of the Year'.
Posters from the recent #UnitedByVote campaign Click on the images to enlarge
The Italian clothing retailer, staying true to its roots of provocative advertising, has rolled out a new ad film. Taproot Dentsu conceptualised the film as a 'celebration of democracy and the power of the vote that every Indian citizen holds'.
Now, shifting to the ongoing general elections, we've reported enough on how and why brands are tapping into this space. However, what caught our attention with this ad is the clear evocative message to consumers in one of the posters already doing the rounds on social media. From power games and Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) rumours to much-debated bravery of our armed forces and picking on dynastic policies, the brand has left no stone unturned (almost) in conveying its message to consumers.
"They made us believe that dynasty matters more than the merit of personality..." as the poster states, makes us wonder if this could be a rather direct way to slam Congress for its dynastic politics.
Interestingly (and hopefully), the video, on the other hand, seems to help balance the brand's political stance. The video features a political party and their "routine" promises of 'building a temple and a masjid' etc.
UCB'S 2017 ad campaign 'One Faith' that knocks into the most sensitive reality of India
The global gender equality campaign United by Half was rolled out across digital and social channels. The film depicts men and women as equal partners and shows couples who are unrestricted by social taboos
Called Unemployee of the Year - the film is an unfiltered portrayal of the everyday life of four young NEETs. We see how they fight to find a job while at the same time fighting for their dignity, against indifference and stigma
Benetton's 'Unhate' campaign, depicting President Barack Obama kissing his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez, went on to win Cannes Ad Festival Award
Credits:
Creative Head: Titus Upputuru
Creative Team: Titus Upputuru, Auryndom, Neharika Awal, Deepali Agarwal
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