United Colors of Benetton teams with UN to champion women’s rights
United Colors of Benetton has partnered with the United Nations to create an ad campaign in support of its International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
The aim of the global campaign, which features a group of men ‘stoning’ a woman with flower petals, is to raise awareness of all forms of discrimination and abuse against women and the need for prevention programmes.
An TV ad, which will also be seeded across social networks, forms the centre of the campaign and will be aired globally from today (25 November).
As part of the partnership Benetton, which has long supported social issues, will use a newly launched online platform, Unhatenews, created in conjunction with the UN’S Public Information arm to allow 18-30 year olds to upload their views on issues about terrorism, human rights and women’s rights.
Erik Ravelo, head of social engagement campaigns of Fabrica (Benetton Group’s communications research center) and creative director of the campaign, said: "we have always focused on socially responsible communication initiatives and were happy to lend our creativity as part of efforts to raise awareness on the issue of violence against women: we chose a flower instead of a stone to say no to a human rights violation that causes permanent physical and emotional scars and that is reflected in all social classes."
The top ten submissions on the Unhatenews platform will be turned into sustainable projects, which will be put into motion in 2015.