Benetton's "Kissing" Campaign is GROSS! ...Or Is It?

Benetton's "UNHATE" ad campaign, using photomanipulation to depict various world leaders kissing, has triggered an uproar. These posters clearly violate publicity rights, but I doubt that's what's causing the ruckus.

Instead, viewer reactions, which generally range from "yuck!" to "gross!" in comments on news articles, sound like kindergardeners. "Well, of course!" you say. "Obama and some Chinese dude kissing are G-R-O-S-S!"

Look in the mirror.

Some years ago, walking in Boston, I passed a pair of lovebirds groping, French kissing, and heavy petting on a park bench. Averting my eyes, I happened to notice a chalk sign on the sidewalk decorated with flowers, rainbows and smiley faces and the caption, "HAPPY COMING OUT DAY!" When I smiled at the doodle, the youth came up for air long enough to announce, "EW, QUEERS ARE GROSS!" His girlfriend giggled and agreed. Then they returned to tonsil hockey.

Most of us have more propriety than a couple of horny college students. However, I can't help noticing that public uproar over the Benetton ads expresses exactly the same double standard. Faced with sex in advertising every single day, we don't bat an eyelash. Acres of skin, grinding bodies and sexually suggestive metaphors bombard us in a constant barrage. Commercials equate autos and hamburgers to sexual satisfaction. A few fuddy-duddies tut-tut, but by and large we accept sex in advertising. We certainly don't think it's gross or yucky (again, note the preschool language). We may think it's risqué or too adult.

To put it another way, a Sleeping Beauty kiss in a Disney flick is rated G, but a picture of two women sharing a shy peck raises eyebrows and gets slapped with a "PG" or "R" or "NSFW" rating. (I know. It happened to a drawing which was tamer than kisses seen in TV commercials for home redecorating).Well, of course, you say. That's different.

Here's what it boils down to. Advertising which titillates us, based on our sexual tastes, is "naughty" but slides by with a wink. Advertising which depicts much less graphic expressions of affection is "gross" and creates a firestorm.

Mind you, Benetton's "Unhate" ad campaign isn't about homophobia. It's actually a much broader message about love versus hatred, and about trying to build peace not perpetuate war:

That's what Benetton claims they are trying to say, but that's not the message viewers see when they view these ads.

What I have seen, in every news story which allows reader commentary, is a resounding "YUCK! EEEEEW! GROSS!" outcry that is obviously responding to the "men kissing men" angle, rather than to any grand message about "love thy enemy."

This visceral reaction to images of same-sex kissing is important. It has huge consequences on other people's lives. These "yuck!" and "gross!" attitudes cause us to pass laws which deny gay soldiers the right to come home to attend a partner's funeral, which prevent gay parents from being legal parents their children, which control whether gays can provide medical benefits and care to loved ones, and which deny lifelong gay partners over 1000 taken-for-granted-rights which heterosexual couples have and enjoy as special legal privileges.

Substitute "interracial couple" for "gay couple" and you can see why these laws are intruding on and causing major hardships for gays who are just trying to live their lives.

So, when you see the Benetton ad and think, "Yuck!" and "Gross!" ask how your reaction, multiplied by billions, is shaping the creation, passage and maintenance of laws that harm millions of people and their families.

And, for the record, I think the Benetton ads are in somewhat poor taste. At their root, they are an ad campaign by a commercial company using manipulated photos of world leaders to promote their brand. As such, I'n not sure they show proper respect for the office of president, pope, or other world leadership positions. I believe they violate Right of Publicity. (This article does not, because it falls under Fair Use for critique, commentary and news).

Sadly, I also think that the "EWWW!" outcry will swamp any other constructive message this campaign is trying to deliver.