Advertising Lecture Assignment

For this assignment, I have chosen an ad by Kenneth Cole. The ad shows a variety of people, all from very different walks of life, and the slogan states “we all walk in different shoes.” The company is showing its support and appreciation of diversity. None of the people in the advertisements are professional models, just real people, telling a real story. The genius behind this ad campaign is its reliability; customers will want to buy the clothing of Kenneth Cole because they see someone just like them wearing it. When comparing the values of Kenneth Cole to the ones of Benetton, one can see many similarities. Both these companies show their acceptance of unconventional ideas. Cole’s advertisements encourage social progress, as do
Benetton’s. In this day and age, acceptance is necessary for survival. Being different is seen as being interesting. The world is progressing, however, many people are still stuck in their old ways. Therefore, they challenge the public to think in an altered manner, to be accepting of different people. Nevertheless, one can see differences in these two companies branding and values as well. Benetton not only focuses on people, but also on the environment. Kenneth Cole does not step into this area. I originally saw this advertisement on the Yahoo webpage when it was stirring controversy back in 2008. According to Digiday.com, an ad on the homepage of Yahoo.com costs about $450,000-600,000. I believe these