PIXELS DON’T HUG: WHY BENETTON’S AI-LED CAMPAIGN FEELS LIKE STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY IN A SWEATER
Benetton used to be the brand that made your aunt clutch her pearls. HIV-positive models. Death row portraits. Multiracial families in the ’80s when it wasn’t “brand safe.” Love it or hate it, Benetton meant edge.
Fast forward to FW25. The new campaign is AI-created, helmed by digital artist Rick Dick—who usually slays with irony and pop-culture memes. Only this time? We got visuals that look more like a stock photo search for “diverse knitwear” than a radical manifesto.
Benetton described it as enhancing its aesthetic with AI. They didn’t confirm whether every image was synthetic—but the vibe is clear: glossy, generic, context-free avatars. The once-provocative brand has gone from shock value to stock value.
FW25 Video from Benetton Group
Rick Dick at his best vs. Benetton at Its blandest
Let’s be clear: Rick Dick isn’t the villain here. When he’s in his element, he’s brilliant.
Balenciaga “Demnaciaga”: a viral parody so sharp it felt like Demna himself was in on the joke.
Queer fashion parodies: playful, camp, and packed with cultural references.
These works succeed because they use humor, irony, and cultural bite. AI is the scalpel, and satire is the surgery.
Benetton’s FW25? None of that. No satire, no cultural critique. Just flat inclusivity cosplay, as if the AI was prompted with “make it inclusive” and spit out clip art of humanity.
Where’s the design, where’s the process?
A campaign is more than pretty pictures. Traditionally, it involves:
Art direction: moodboards, storyboarding, stylists, photographers, models.
Design process: research, iteration, empathy, testing.
Brand identity: color, typography, tone, and the “gut feeling” you leave behind.
With FW25, much of this appears replaced by prompts. And that raises questions:
Authorship: In U.S. law, copyright requires human creative control. How much of this campaign counts as authored work?
Disclosure: The EU AI Act will require transparency about synthetic media—did Benetton provide it?
Equity: Were jobs for stylists, models, and photographers displaced by pixels?
“Generated diversity”
≠ inclusion
Benetton’s legacy is human-first: real controversies, real communities, real diversity.
AI-generated “diversity” is different. No human casting. No stylists or crews. No lived experience shaping the stories. It’s like ordering a “representation sandwich” and being served plastic display food.
We’ve seen how this can backfire—Google recently paused Gemini’s people generator after inaccurate and stereotyped outputs. Representation without participation isn’t inclusion. It’s a vibe check fail.
What creatives should take away
For designers, the lesson isn’t “AI is bad.” At House of gAi, we believe in AI as co-pilot, not autopilot.
Use AI for ideation and moodboards.
Use it to visualize wild concepts you can’t shoot IRL.
Use it to play, parody, and provoke—like Rick Dick at his best.
But when a €1bn-revenue brand uses it to replace labor, strip away design processes, and flatten diversity into pixels? That’s not innovation. That’s regression wrapped in knitwear.
The future we actually want
If brands want to work with AI responsibly, they need to:
Disclose: be transparent about what’s AI and what’s not.
Balance: mix AI with real people, places, and stories.
Apply design principles: AI should serve researched concepts, not just vibes.
Invest in equity: reinvest cost savings into creative communities, not shareholder margins.
Check likenesses: synthetic faces can risk resembling real people—raising rights and consent issues.
Conclusion: From Toscani to text-to-image
Benetton wanted to prove it’s still relevant. Instead, the FW25 campaign looks like a Canva template gone corporate. For a brand that once weaponized controversy, this feels like sweater weather for the soul
Designers, this is our wake-up call: AI can be tool or toxin. The difference is in how we wield it. Legally, ethically, creatively—AI ads aren’t a free-for-all.
👉 Join the conversation in our Creative Futures Hub. Let’s make sure the future of AI in fashion is bold, ethical, and—most importantly—human.
AI FAQ
1) Is Benetton’s FW25 campaign fully AI?
Benetton publicly positioned the work as AI-led and said AI was used to enhance its aesthetic. They did not specify whether every asset was synthetic. Our critique focuses on how the final visuals read—more like stock-style, synthetic diversity—than Benetton’s historically human, provocative approach.
2) What is Rick Dick best known for?
Satirical, meme-driven AI projects that use humor and cultural critique—think “Demnaciaga” and cheeky, pop-culture fashion parodies. When the brief supports irony and commentary, his work lands.
3) Why do you say “generated diversity ≠ inclusion”?
Inclusion is participation + representation. If models, stylists, and crews aren’t hired or credited, the work may show “diverse” faces without supporting real people, stories, or wages.
4) Are there legal issues with AI campaign imagery?
Two big ones:
Authorship/copyright: In many jurisdictions (e.g., U.S.), copyright requires meaningful human creative control.
Likeness/publicity rights: Synthetic faces can unintentionally resemble real people; vet outputs to avoid look-alike and consent problems.
5) Does the EU AI Act require disclosure for ads like this?
The EU framework expects transparency for synthetic media in many contexts. Brands should clearly disclose AI-generated or AI-modified content and keep internal documentation on tools and process.
6) What’s the design critique here (beyond ethics)?
Great campaigns come from research, concept, art direction, and collaboration. Pure prompt-to-picture often skips hierarchy, intent, and brand identity systems—producing glossy visuals without design thinking.
7) How should designers use AI responsibly?
Treat AI as co-pilot, not autopilot: ideate, moodboard, previsualize, prototype, and push concepts—then execute with human craft, diverse teams, and clear credits.
8) What does House of gAi recommend to brands?
Disclose AI; balance synthetic with real people/places; align to design principles; reinvest savings into creative communities; and implement bias/likeness checks before publishing.
9) Where can I debate this with other creatives?
Join the conversation in our Creative Futures Hub—we host practical critiques, share workflows, and publish ethical checklists for AI in design.