Benetton’s Latest Ad Campaign Directs Attention To Youth Unemployment

United Colours of Benetton is coming out with a new campaign aimed at highlighting the booming rates of young jobless people and the company is asking the young unemployed to make proposals on how to cope with the problem.

The retailer, which shocked the world with its recent advertising campaign depicting religious leaders kissing, is now shifting its attention to the unemployed aged under 30 who are struggling every day to find a career that is right for them. The latest initiative shows young people protesting, dressed in formal work clothes waiting for interviews or at employment offices.

The “Unemployee of the Year” is the latest chapter of Benetton’s “Unhate” campaign and will take the form of ads displayed on posters, T-shirts, a video and a contest to select 100 unemployed youths who will be awarded €5,000 each to make their projects happen. The participants in the competition, which will end on 14 October, must be unemployed 18-30 year olds. The best ideas will be selected online based on public votes.

The initiative is being promoted by the retailer’s chairman, Alessandro Benetton, who thinks that people need to listen to this generation’s concepts when it comes to the right job opportunities since the old methods no longer work, Reuters reported.

The campaign has its roots in a report presented by a group of 50 Benetton professionals, revealing that over 100 million young people aged between 15 and 29 globally don’t have a job.