The following thesis presents a research work carried out in the field of shock advertising, a technique used by the photographer Oliviero Toscani during the years when he was creative director of the Benetton clothing company. The first chapter will describe the characteristics of the specific language of social advertising and the functions it performs within advertising communication: (to move, to accuse, to shock, etc.), in order to understand the extent to which this type of communication has sought to raise public awareness by promoting or denouncing specific behaviours. Dealing, as stated above, with shock and therefore non-ordinary advertisements, it was somehow to be expected that some of them would be censored, precisely because the photographer's creativity did not respond to the imposed advertising rules. Having understood this, I wanted to anchor my discourse, in the drafting of the second chapter, to the legal sphere, expounding, as comprehensively as possible, the functions of the bodies in charge of censoring advertising campaigns, which are considered unfair if they contravene the rules they issue. While theoretically expounding the legal discipline to which Oliviero Toscani had to respond legally, I decided, in the third chapter, to try my hand at a semiotic analysis of all the advertising campaigns for Benetton that the photographer created during the years in which he was creative director of the company. From shock but accepted campaigns to censored shock campaigns, my study involved the analysis of 38 photos taken for the creation of the advertising campaigns. Among them, of course, there are no shortage of advertising campaigns censored by the adjudicating body of the Autodisciplina Pubblicitaria, whose justifications for this decision are known. Between the photos from 1984 until 2000, the year in which the collaboration between the photographer and the company came to an end, and the photos of the present day, there will be a sudden change not only in images and colours but, above all, in the themes dealt with. Precisely for this reason, at the end of the third chapter, my analysis will deal with a comparison between before and after the Toscani effect, to show how digital has revolutionised not only the way of advertising but also the very behaviour of consumers, who, from drawing the right values and lessons from it, find themselves wandering in virtual stores in search of the right fashion to wear. Interested in public opinion and how it reflects, today, on the issues of the past, I decided to conduct two qualitative surveys to collect primary and secondary data. More specifically, I carried out two focus groups and an interview in order to shift my attention outwards and understand both how disturbed people felt by seeing the censored campaigns and what emotions and reflections arose in them after seeing all of Toscani's campaigns. The interview, on the other hand, was conducted with a young man, a content creator, employed by an advertising company in Milan, in order to understand how people advertise today, whether inspired by a kind of subjective creativity or subjected to the influence of digital. The collection of secondary data involved the analysis of two interviews, made with the photographer Oliviero Toscani, and available on the YouTube channel, in order to understand why the photographer, despite the numerous censures and controversies he has been subjected to, has wanted, over the years, to continue with his battle, turning his back on those who judged him, in the name of what he considered to be right.
La seguente tesi presenta un lavoro di ricerca svolto nell'ambito dello shock advetising, tecnica adoperata dal fotografo Oliviero Toscani negli anni che lo hanno visto direttore creativo dell'azienda d'abbigliamento Benetton. Nel primo capitolo verranno descritte le caratteristiche del linguaggio specifico della pubblicità sociale e delle funzioni che questa svolge all'interno della comunicazione pubblicitaria: (commuovere, accusare, scioccare, etc.), per comprendere in che misura questo tipo di comunicazione abbia voluto sensibilizzare l’opinione pubblica, promuovendo o denunciando specifici comportamenti. Trattando, come affermato poc’anzi, le pubblicità shock e quindi non ordinarie, bisognava, in qualche modo, aspettarsi che alcune di queste fossero state censurate, proprio perché la creatività del fotografo non rispondeva alle regole pubblicitarie imposte. Compreso ciò, ho voluto ancorare il mio discorso, nella redazione del secondo capitolo, all’ambito giuridico, esponendo, in maniera quanto più completa, le funzioni degli organi incaricati alla censura delle campagne pubblicitarie, considerate scorrette se contrarie alle regole da loro emesse. Esponendo teoricamente la disciplina giuridica alla quale Oliviero Toscani ha dovuto rispondere legalmente, ho deciso, nel terzo capitolo, di cimentarmi in un’analisi semiotica di tutte le campagne pubblicitarie per Benetton che il fotografo ha realizzato negli anni in cui è stato direttore creativo dell’azienda. Dalle campagne shock ma accettate, alle campagne shock censurate, il mio studio ha visto l’analisi di 38 foto realizzate per la creazione delle campagne pubblicitarie. Tra queste, ovviamente, non mancano le campagne pubblicitarie censurate dall’organo giudicante dell’Autodisciplina Pubblicitaria, di cui saranno note le giustificazioni per tale decisione. Tra le foto dal 1984 fino al 2000, anno in cui si è interrotta la collaborazione tra il fotografo e l’azienda, e le foto dei giorni nostri, si assisterà ad un cambio repentino non solo di immagini e colori ma, e soprattutto, di tematiche trattate. Proprio per questo, alla fine del terzo capitolo, la mia analisi tratterà un paragone tra il prima e il dopo l’effetto Toscani, per dimostrare come il digitale abbia rivoluzionato non solo il modo di fare pubblicità ma anche il comportamento stesso dei consumatori, i quali da trarne i giusti valori ed insegnamenti, si ritrovano a vagare negli store virtuali in cerca della giusta moda da indossare. Interessata all’opinione pubblica e a come questa rifletta, oggi, sulle tematiche del passato ho deciso di condurre due indagini qualitative per la raccolta di dati primari e secondari. Più specificatamente, ho realizzato due focus groups e un’intervista per spostare la mia attenzione verso l’esterno e capire sia quanto le persone si siano sentite disturbate dalla visione delle campagne censurate, sia quali emozioni e riflessioni siano nate in loro dopo la visione di tutte quelle realizzate da Toscani. L’intervista, invece, è stata condotta ad un ragazzo, un content creator, dipendente di un’azienda pubblicitaria milanese, per comprendere in che modo, oggi, si faccia pubblicità, se ispirati da una sorta di creatività soggettiva oppure se sottoposti all’influenza del digitale. La raccolta dei dati secondari ha visto l’analisi di due interviste, fatte al fotografo Oliviero Toscani, e reperibili sul canale YouTube, per capire come mai il fotografo, nonostante le numerose censure e polemiche a cui è andato incontro, abbia voluto, negli anni, proseguire con la sua battaglia, voltando le spalle a coloro che lo giudicavano, in nome di ciò che egli reputava essere giusto.
La comunicazione pubblicitaria di Benetton: da un passato censurato ad un presente personalizzato.
SANTORO, FAUSTA
2021/2022
Abstract
The following thesis presents a research work carried out in the field of shock advertising, a technique used by the photographer Oliviero Toscani during the years when he was creative director of the Benetton clothing company. The first chapter will describe the characteristics of the specific language of social advertising and the functions it performs within advertising communication: (to move, to accuse, to shock, etc.), in order to understand the extent to which this type of communication has sought to raise public awareness by promoting or denouncing specific behaviours. Dealing, as stated above, with shock and therefore non-ordinary advertisements, it was somehow to be expected that some of them would be censored, precisely because the photographer's creativity did not respond to the imposed advertising rules. Having understood this, I wanted to anchor my discourse, in the drafting of the second chapter, to the legal sphere, expounding, as comprehensively as possible, the functions of the bodies in charge of censoring advertising campaigns, which are considered unfair if they contravene the rules they issue. While theoretically expounding the legal discipline to which Oliviero Toscani had to respond legally, I decided, in the third chapter, to try my hand at a semiotic analysis of all the advertising campaigns for Benetton that the photographer created during the years in which he was creative director of the company. From shock but accepted campaigns to censored shock campaigns, my study involved the analysis of 38 photos taken for the creation of the advertising campaigns. Among them, of course, there are no shortage of advertising campaigns censored by the adjudicating body of the Autodisciplina Pubblicitaria, whose justifications for this decision are known. Between the photos from 1984 until 2000, the year in which the collaboration between the photographer and the company came to an end, and the photos of the present day, there will be a sudden change not only in images and colours but, above all, in the themes dealt with. Precisely for this reason, at the end of the third chapter, my analysis will deal with a comparison between before and after the Toscani effect, to show how digital has revolutionised not only the way of advertising but also the very behaviour of consumers, who, from drawing the right values and lessons from it, find themselves wandering in virtual stores in search of the right fashion to wear. Interested in public opinion and how it reflects, today, on the issues of the past, I decided to conduct two qualitative surveys to collect primary and secondary data. More specifically, I carried out two focus groups and an interview in order to shift my attention outwards and understand both how disturbed people felt by seeing the censored campaigns and what emotions and reflections arose in them after seeing all of Toscani's campaigns. The interview, on the other hand, was conducted with a young man, a content creator, employed by an advertising company in Milan, in order to understand how people advertise today, whether inspired by a kind of subjective creativity or subjected to the influence of digital. The collection of secondary data involved the analysis of two interviews, made with the photographer Oliviero Toscani, and available on the YouTube channel, in order to understand why the photographer, despite the numerous censures and controversies he has been subjected to, has wanted, over the years, to continue with his battle, turning his back on those who judged him, in the name of what he considered to be right.È consentito all'utente scaricare e condividere i documenti disponibili a testo pieno in UNITESI UNIPV nel rispetto della licenza Creative Commons del tipo CC BY NC ND.
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14239/2284