A Monk from Tibet on Benetton’s Olympic Campaign

August 9th, 2008, Author: Marisa Lavino, Categories: Op-Ed

ROME August 9, 2008 /FR/ - Famous for its subversive advertising campaigns, the Italian fashion group Benetton, has made its new print campaign public yesterday. On the day when the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing (China) is taking place, the Italian brand has chosen to show a Buddhist monk from Tibet and a Chinese soldier praying in front of each another under the word “victims” printed in black.

Although it might be judged as provocative in the context of the controversy about the implementation of human rights in China, the message could also be seen as a call for peace.

In fact the word “victims” could refer both to the threat denounced by the international press against the orignal population of Tibet by Chinese “colons and army, but also to the victims of the earthquake in South-West China in may 2008, when 80,000 people died.
This intention by the Benetton group seems confirmed as their magazine “Colors”, is also publioshing in its august edition 30 pictures after the earthquake, together with 30 prayers by monks from Tibet for the Chinese victims.