Benetton Gallops Into Another Controversy

A billboard clothing ad that shows a black horse and a white horse mating is racist, hate-filled and a bad message to children, many residents of this city in southern France say.

Mayor Jacques Peyrat filed a complaint last week demanding that the billboards be removed, and a judge is considering the request.

“Such a publicity campaign contributes to the aggravation of the deplorable climate” in France created by recent incidents of pedophilia and the spread of pornography, the mayor said.

There was no response from Benetton, the Italian clothing manufacturer that produced the ad.

Past Bennetton ads have featured such controversial images as the blood-soaked uniform of a dead soldier, a priest kissing a nun, an AIDS victim dying, and company head Luciano Benetton in the nude.