Benetton is known in the United States for producing a long-running series of controversial, offensive advertisements that have caused a number of media critics to accuse the company of deliberately creating controversy in order to sell its products. The ads, entitled "United Colors of Benetton," have included images that are apparently unrelated to the clothes sold by the company, including scenes of people dying of AIDS, panicking crowds jumping off of a sinking ship, a bloody, unwashed newborn baby, and a death row inmate. The only caption included in these pictures is the Benetton logo.
The name of the brand comes from the Benetton family, and in particlar from Sen. Luciano Benetton who founded it.
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