Another ad from the best year of all years! Gosh, doesn’t everyone look so… bright? So much energy! And everyone’s so happy in their sportswear. They’re loving it (especially the guy in the red tracksuit on the right), the kids are loving it, I’m loving it:
Not-so-accurate Scan/20th Century Fashion, by Jim Heimann and Alison A Neider.
(Apologies for the not-so-good crop in the scan. The bit underneath the logo reads ‘Benetton has all the colors in the world’.)
And in related news, I thought it would be interesting to post some images from the fall 2010 campaign from the brand to compare:
Images/via thefashionisto.com
25 year’s later, the models are moodier, the colours aren’t as bright, they’ve gotten rid of the little ones and obviously the clothes have changed, but the whole ‘group-of-faces-from-different-places-and-different-races’ aesthetic is still there. (More below.)
These are just so much ‘shinier’ than that old Benetton Ad at the top of this post. The people are so… I know I said it already, but I can’t think of a better word – they’re shiny. They’re so perfect. They’re not as real looking.
As to be expected in this age of photoshop I guess.
I do love the image below, however:
See the rest of the campaign here.
The new ads just emulate what we currently define/expect cool to be…distanced, unaffected, unattainable but attractive people. Very shiny. But that’s what we respond to at the moment. And in a few years, this will change, a new embodiment of cool will emerge, new models, new ‘moods’…it’s just the way it is. Maybe a return to happy, bright, normal-ish aka less photoshopped people?
The denim image looks a little Just Jeans-y.
Having said my two cents, the campaign is great for continuing to use their multi-cultural aesthetic. Shame they have some ‘Who farted?’ ‘Where am I?’ ‘I’m bored’ facial expressions going on.
The current cool doesn’t do it for me, they just look moody and disinterested.. I prefer the old cool. happier :)
funny.
doesn’t look normal.
still looks like they cast a token black and asian guy in it