The veil of intercultural advertising and its colonial practices: A case study of Benetton in the Argentine Patagonia

Abstract

Benetton Group is one of the best-known fashion companies in the world whose advertising communication strategy appeals to inclusion and diversity, which is why it has managed to establish itself as a brand that favors the construction of an intercultural society. However, at the same time, it is an active agent at the territorial political dispute in Argentine Patagonia, for owning 900,000 hectares for productive purposes and that the Mapuche people claim as ancestral territory. The objective of this paper is to examine whether its advertising and its business mission are consistent with its development practices, or if, on the contrary, and under the rhetoric of equality, it’s hiding a recolonization that reproduces modes of domination that violate the collective rights of the Mapuche people in southern Argentina. The analysis of this case study could contribute to a contrasted understanding of similar practices carried out by other transnational companies.