Benetton — "Unhate" Campaign Showing World Leaders Kissing (2011)

Benetton's 'Unhate' campaign featured digitally altered images of world leaders kissing, including the Pope with an Egyptian imam and President Obama with Hugo Chávez. The Vatican condemned the ads as a grave offense, and diplomatic protests followed from both affected governments. The controversy generated 500 million earned media impressions in the first week alone, yet global knitwear sales dropped by 12% in the following quarter. This controversy is notable for being more politically charged than #2 Calvin Klein's Brooke Shields campaign, yet less damaging financially—Benetton's parent company reported a net loss of $45 million that year, considerably lower than the billion-dollar blow Dolce & Gabbana suffered from its China debacle.