‘Shocked’ contractors force Benetton to scrap poster ad

Benetton, the retailer renowned for its controversial advertising, has scrapped a poster ad after outdoor contractors branded it too shocking.

The artwork, seen by a number of industry sources, is a mock-up of a black horse mounting a white horse in explicit detail.

The Italian company is understood to have taken eight mock-ups to poster companies around London, to gauge their opinions. Each one said the poster was beyond the pale.

One source says: “Frankly the idea was obscene and went too far.”

Since the Eighties, Benetton has produced a series of shock ads based around race and tolerance. They have included pictures of people branded with the words HIV, the bloody clothes of a dead Croatian soldier and a new-born baby still attached to its umbilical cord.

The company says its purpose is to promote tolerance. But critics have labelled the executions everything from exploitative and distasteful to racist.

A Benetton spokeswoman refused to confirm or deny the story, saying that the company never discussed creative work until it had been released.