Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2000. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated Press - Tuesday December 12, 2000
Germany's federal appeals court ruled five years ago that the fashion ad campaigns, showing a man stamped with "HIV Positive," children toiling in a South American sweat shop and a duck covered in crude oil, were morally offensive and violated the principles of fair competition by using compassion for commercial purposes.
On Tuesday, the Federal Constitutional Court said the earlier ruling had violated the right to freedom of speech and that there was no clear evidence that the ads did provoke feelings of compassion.
The ads had run in Germany's Stern magazine before an advertising watchdog group filed a motion against it and they were banned. The magazine's publisher, Gruner Jahr, appealed the ruling, although Benetton did not.
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