Benetton and Corporate Social Responsibility

2009-2010

The Benetton Case

Corporate Social Responsibility

Benetton at First Glance

The name Benetton is often associated with the words ‘controversy’, ‘shocking’ and ‘provocative’ due to the infamous ‘United Colors of Benetton’ advertisements. Albeit very unconventional, these advertisements, admittedly, make no reference whatsoever to the company’s core business and many are left wondering just what it is that Benetton has to offer (apart for debate-prone topics).

The Benetton Group (referred to as Benetton) is an infamous Italian clothes producer with three distinct clothing lines. The infamous ‘United Colors of Benetton’ offers casual clothing, while lesser-known ‘Sisley’ and ‘PlayLife’ offer upscale fashion clothing and leisurewear respectively. The company’s claim to fame came in 1982, when photographer Oliviero Toscani began making Benetton’s original and daring advertisement campaign, and this family run company is now Italy’s fourth largest company with a turnover of over 2 billion euros.

Although the company is very public with its raising of social concerns for the sake of advertising, the company is very quiet when it comes to the resolution of the issues; hence leaving doubtful consumers to ponder whether Benetton actually gives back to the community in any way.

One way to address this question is to look at it from a corporate social responsibility perspective or, in other words, the measures taken by the company in the public’s interest. This paper will therefore look into Benetton’s various CSR actions in order to determine just what proportion of all their ‘social concerns’ translates into real, measurable actions for the good community.

Food for life campaign

In 2003, Benetton teamed up with the World Food Program to launch a campaign with the aim to shed some light on the world hunger problem, setting an emphasis on Africa’s needs. Similarly previous campaigns, it revolved around shocking photographs that point out...