As the Olympics kick off in Beijing today, the rest of the world woke up to this Benetton ad in their morning newspapers.
The Italian fashion mega brand has always made social statements with a heavy jab at controversy. So being mum during this globally watched event would never do.
The ad partners with the latest issue of the company’s Colors Magazine, now on newsstands, featuring a portfolio of 30 prayers by Tibetan monks for the Chinese victims of the recent Sichuan earthquake accompanying startling, striking images of that catastrophe and the lives affected by it.
Benetton is providing aid to the survivors of the earthquake through the Red Cross, with funds raised in part by T-shirts bearing the Tibet/China image at its stores.
Buying a T-shirt (like buying the shoes touted in yesterday's post) isn't going to save the world, of course. But learning about what's happening outside our safe zone, and doing something about it, can make it a better place. It’s often said fashion should inspire. So, too, it’s good to be reminded that in this symbiotic world we live in, as suffering from injustices thrive, we are all guilty when we do nothing.