Ponzano, the Veneto, 1992

For the new spring and summer campaign, Toscani chose seven images of "reality." These included a gang murder in Palermo, a flood in Bangladesh, a boat full of people escaping from Albania, a burning car in Sicily, and a Liberian soldier with a gun, holding a bone from a human leg behind his back. The single green and white logo on each picture carried the words "United Colors of Benetton."

The reaction to these images was immediate. Most of them were banned to various degrees in various countries. But the seventh image had a clear effect on the stores for the first time. This showed an American AIDS sufferer, David Kirby, with his family in the moments after his death. The family had agreed that Benetton could use the image. Now, however, Toscani's campaign was going out of control. It was threatening to damage the image and even the sales of the company.

Saturday was the busiest day of the week in London. A group of protesters from an international AIDS pressure group chose this time to protest against Benetton on the sidewalk outside the Oxford Street store. Their plan was to get the attention of passing crowds, the store itself, and its customers.

Together, shouting loudly, they rushed into the store and began to pull the sweaters from the shelves and throw them high into the air. Then, the protesters left as quickly as they had come. All the clothes had to be picked up, folded, and put back in the right place.

There was anger about the use of the picture among politicians and groups concerned about AIDS. Benetton store owners and staff were upset. The company was forced to defend itself.

"It is reality," Luciano told the media. "Our company has to make people think. You can be more useful than selling a product. To improve the image of the company, we thought we could do something more. We wanted to show our care for others, as well as our own product."

One interviewer asked him, "Would you stop the campaign if it didn't sell sweaters?"

"I would think about it," Luciano said calmly.

Toscani was angry but tried not to upset the questioners. He asked why reality shocked people. He argued that traditional advertising pictures were lies but Benetton was showing the truth. Benetton, he continued, was a business and had to make money; it did not exist just to give money away.

"No," he and Luciano both replied to another question. "We have no plans to give money from our profits to AIDS groups."