Mediaboss Marketing

THE ORIGINAL uncensored image of the Bench billboard circulated on social media.

Was it worth it?

That was one of the many questions raised at our Lifestyle staff meeting regarding the controversy over the now-famous Bench billboards along Edsa Guadalupe, Mandaluyong.

It refers to talk that the lifestyle brand had defaced its own billboard and deliberately kept mum about it for days, as netizens expressed their outrage over the seeming censorship, causing the ad campaign to go viral.

The subject of the Bench Valentine campaign called Love All Kinds of Love, which includes images of two same-sex couples, is in itself controversial, and surely would have generated a lot of talk. But without the added censorship angle, would it have gone viral?

By censoring its own billboard and not addressing the issue quick enough, Benchs intentions have been put under scrutiny. Its disingenuous, netizens say.

If Benchs goal was to make its ad campaign go viral, and for the brand to get a lot of buzz, was it worth earning the ire of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community, the group that it purports to champion, in the process?

Love All Kinds of Love is audacious and ballsy and, yes, wow!

I was among the many who applauded Benchs campaign the first time I saw ita composite of four images featuring movie legend Gloria Romero and her grandson; actress-model Solenn Heussaff and her fianc Nico Bolzico; and two real-life same-sex couples, magazine creative director Vince Uy and events organizer Nio Gaddi, and makeup artist Ana Paredes and interior designer Carla Peaon Suyen Corp. chair and Bench founder Ben Chans Instagram.

The third and now famous photo was then in its uncensored form.

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The Bench billboard brouhaha: genuine issue or marketing ploy?