Oliviero Toscani

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Oliviero Toscani (b. 1942) is a photographer, best-known worldwide for designing controversial advertising campaigns for Italian brand Benetton, from 1982 to 2000. Most of these advertising campaigns were actually institutionals for the brand, always composed of rather controversial photography, usually with only the company logo "United Colors of Benetton" as caption.

One of his most famous campaigns include that of a man dying of AIDS, lying in a hospital bed, surrounded by his grieving relatives. Others include allusions to racism (notably one with three almost identical human hearts, with the words 'white', 'black', and 'yellow' as captions), war, religion and even capital punishment.

In the early nineties Toscani co-founded the magazine Colors (also owned by Benetton) with American graphic designer Tibor Kalman. With the tagline "a magazine about the rest of the world", Colors built on the multiculturalism prevalent at that time and in Benetton's ad campaigns, while remaining editorially independent from Benetton.

In 2005, five years after his resignation from Benetton, he sparked controversy again with his photographs for an advertising campaign for the men's clothing brand 'Ra-Re'. Their portrayals of men participating in homosexual behaviour angered groups such as the parents' association 'MOIGE' who called the pictures 'vulgar'. The campaign came amidst on-going debate in Italy about gay rights.

Oliviero Toscani unsuccessfully stood as a candidate for parliament for the new Rose in the Fist party in the Italian general election held on April 9 and 10, 2006.