Bunhill: Benetton gets sent up

THE CONTROVERSY over Benetton's use of tragic images in its advertising has spread to Norway, where the clothes chain is hardly represented on every street corner. Although low budgets meant that few ads made it on to the streets, the Norwegians have not ignored the debate.

The latest contribution to the discussions comes in Kreativtforum, a trade magazine for the Norwegian advertising industry. It is a pastiche of the Benetton ads, made by the local agency of Bates Backer and Spielvogel, part of the Saatchi network. While the picture is an inoffensive smorgasbord of three of the company's staff, the copy twists the knife ever so slightly:

'These are three of our 16 staff doing their utmost to capture clients from your advertising agency. Consequently, you may lose your job, your house, your lover. Maybe you'll end your life totally drunk, choked by your own vomit. But don't despair, we'll come by and take your picture. And that's mould-breaking advertising?'

The man in the middle, Petter Gulli (Norwegian), conceived the ad when John Draleke (Ugandan Norwegian) (right)came to the agency for an interview. 'I thought, 'Wow, if he gets a job here, we could make one hell of an ad.' ' He was duly offered employment (without, we are assured, any undue intervention by Mr Gulli) and the ad was born.

Simon Oldani (Swiss Norwegian) art-directed with the catalyst and the creator. The copy, which is also a jibe at Norway's No 1 agency, whose top man considers the Benetton campaign 'mould-breaking', was written by Mr Gulli with Per Eske.

The Oslo creative community has received the skit well, maintains Mr Gulli. But Bates Backer and Spielvogel has not had any reaction from Benetton. Yet.