Just after the Unhate campaign — a global call to action to combat the “culture of hatred” by Italian fashion retailer Benetton — launched in Paris yesterday, a swift rebuke from the Vatican showed it had struck a nerve.

Benetton's digitally created imagery included a billboard showing Pope Benedict XVI kissing Mohammed Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand sheikh of al-Azhar mosque in Cairo, the most important and moderate centre for Sunni Islamic studies in the world. According to The Guardian, Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi criticised the clothing company for exploiting the pope's image as part of the Unhate campaign's doctored series of images of political and religious leaders locking lips:

"We must express the firmest protest for this absolutely unacceptable use of the image of the Holy Father, manipulated and exploited in a publicity campaign with commercial ends. This shows a grave lack of respect for the pope, an offence to the feelings of believers, a clear demonstration of how publicity can violate the basic rules of respect for people by attracting attention with provocation."

Benetton pulled the unholy papal smooch ad (having separately pulled another image showing now-resigned Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi kissing Angela Merkel). The brand responded to the papal rebuke by saying it was sorry the picture "had so hurt the sensibilities of the faithful." The brand surprised some observers by capitulating — which it may not have done back in the days when its advertising delighted in being an in-your-face "subverter of stereotypes."

The Vatican, meanwhile, is reportedly still planning to sue Benetton to make sure the controversial image takes a permanent vow of silence.Continue reading...

Pepsi-Cola North America Beverages (PCNAB) is in the 'hood, the South Bronx hood to be precise, teaming up with New Yorkers like Grammy Award producer, rapper, and artist Swizz Beatz, graffiti artist Cope 2, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and Assemblyman Carl Heastie, all gathered in support of healthier lifestyle choices.

Activities held today at THE POINT include:

• Sampling stations with Aquafina, Diet Sierra Mist, SoBe Lifewater and Pepsi MAX
• Cooking demonstrations from City Harvest highlighting healthy summer recipes
• Live art installations by Swizz Beatz, with parents, students and faculty from The Bronx Charter School for the Arts and Cope 2.

"Being a father and also being involved with The Bronx Charter School for the Arts, I understand even more how important it is to stay healthy," said Beatz (who's now a proud papa to a son with partner Alicia Keys) in a release. "The Bronx Flavor initiative shows Pepsi-Cola North America's commitment to the well-being of our community."Continue reading...

ROKK Vodka, the freeze-filtered Swedish brand, proved its inclusive marketing by sponsoring the 22nd Annual GLAAD Media Awards in March in New York.

With a tagline of "Filtering out inequality," ROKK rolled out a blue carpet for paparazzi portion of the event, and encouraged presenters and winners to incorporate "ROKK Vodka" into their speeches that evening in return for a charitable contribution from the brand — raising $10,000 in New York alone.Continue reading...

Avon ambassador Fergie yesterday kicked off Avon Voices, Avon's first-ever global online singing talent search for women and songwriting competition (for men and women) in celebration of its 125th anniversary.

The launch also got a hand from Reese Witherspoon, and Fergie's fellow judges including Russian pop star Valeriya, singer/producer David Pack, and songwriter Diane Warren.

Check out avonvoices.com, where users can participate in one of three ways: upload a videotaped singing audition, compete in the songwriting track or vote on others' entries.

The stewards of the Elations brand know their baby-boomer target well. Just witness the fast-rising sales of their joint-health beverage supplement packed with glucosamine and chondroitin to ease the pain of osteoarthritis and sports strains.

The Cincinnati-based company just announced a new charity initiative that's in sync with Elations’ customer base: Boomers Building a Better America. The project will award grants to three boomer-powered community projects, as nominated by their customers, and help them complete their projects.

Coming along as sort of “grand marshalls” of the effort are two athlete-celebrities well known to boomer fans of the Olympics: gymnasts Nadia Comaneci and her husband, Bart Connor.

Mike Burton, the brand's director of marketing, told Brandchannel that Elations is pivoting from recent TV advertising (such as the spot above) to public affairs initiatives to make the brand resonate with its target audience.Continue reading...

Give Pepsi some credit. In addition to its efforts to offer consumers healthier options, the beverage behemoth also plans to forgo the Super Bowl to work on expanding into new media. This will be the first time in 23 years that Pepsi will not air an advertisement during the Super Bowl. That’s a big deal, both culturally and financially.

Instead of advertising during the Super Bowl, Pepsi is focusing its energy and money on its online presence where the brand believes a younger and accessible demographic is spending its time. The Pepsi Refresh Project will feature social-networking campaigns that leverage the participate/contribute-and-vote-online model that many brands have used in the past to encourage consumers to engage with their products via the Internet.Continue reading...

Over the next three years, Lacoste will spend $500,000 to help preserve the very reptile emblazoned on its shirts — the endangered Gange gharial crocodile.

Only an estimated 1,400 remain alive in the world's wilderness.

“We hope to be able to give back to our iconic crocodile — to whom we owe so much — a small part of what he has brought us,” said Lacoste president Michael Lacoste. “Seventy-five years ago, we were the first company to embroider a logo on apparel, and now we are the first company to support ‘Save Your Logo.’”Continue reading...

It’s not unusual to see Pepsi’s name on the scoreboard at a sporting event, but now the brand is sponsoring a different kind of scoreboard: the Foursquare leaderboard.

Foursquare, the mobile social networking platform, city guide, gaming application, and friend finder has announced the start-ups first sponsorship, with Pepsi.

Foursquare is available as an application on the iPhone and Android operating system, with mobile web browsing and text messaging capabilities available on all phones. The service offers users the ability to “friend” other users, “check-in” to establishments while out on the town, and recommend restaurants and menu items.Continue reading...