Just Looking ...

Going back to the lecture on Baudrillard and the ability to mask the absence of reality with the example of Calvin Klein's Obsession, I thought of another example that again is from the fashion industry. The advertising campaign by The United Colours of Benetton with photographer Oliviero Toscani are an excellent example of masking the absence of reality.

These ads have nothing to do with the product being sold but the photographs alone are considered art conveying very politically and socially charged images. What is interesting is the time period which these ads first began to appear and how they reflect the change in how our society grasps reality with regards to Baudrillard's take on how contemporary society has constructed symbolic images.

Some ads are very charged on issues from HIV to Racism but they still do a great job in selling the brand and the clothing. It is becoming very difficult to key in on what the product is in some ads but that is not the point. All that is needed is for you to look and remember the blood red new born baby and the name Benetton.