NOV. 18 UPDATE: The folks at Fox News are upset about the gay innuendo in Benetton's "Unhate" ad campaign. We were waiting for it. Apparently we're going to hell in a hand basket. Or in a Benetton handbag.

According to Fox's Keith Ablow:

The only psychological interpretation of such ads that makes sense to me as a psychiatrist is that the corporate leaders at Benetton literally believe that homosexual sex between world leaders -- or at least homosexuality, as an orientation -- would lead to world peace.

Ablow adds:

Benetton now joins J. Crew as a fashion retailer with a social agenda that is no secret. At J. Crew, Jenna Lyons made it a point to tell Americans that painting boys' toenails pink is a good thing and probably a proper antidote to their rising levels of testosterone. At Benetton, heterosexuality and faith, are now linked to all the problems in our troubled world, problems that can be reversed if men in positions of leadership would just yield to their innate desires to have sex with each other.

Original post below:

President Barack Obama locking lips with Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela, is not exactly sexy but sure is, well, shocking. And that's what the Benetton brand is going for in its new "Unhate" Foundation ad campaign. And it's obviously stirring some controversy.

The most controversy surrounds  the Photoshopped (and all the images, of course, are Photoshopped) image of Pope Benedict XVI and Sheik Ahmed el-Tayeb (I had to look it up), who is head of Al-Azhar university in Cairo, the top Islamic school in the world (I had to look that up, too). Anyway, the photos are examples of nations that don't get along and Benetton wants them to kiss and make up and stop the hating. And buy their clothes, of course.

Anyway, back the pope and the imam. These two guys do not get along at all and the Vatican is pissed and so Benetton pulled the ad from the campaign after some harsh words from the Vatican. No respect for such an important figure, blah, blah, blah, the Vatican said.

The fact the pope really doesn't like gay people — specifically marriage equality — and doesn't want an image of him kissing another man plastered around the world may have played some kind of role in the Vatican's anger, too, I imagine.

But, hey, y'all, guess what. Most of the images are of men kissing men. You know, gay kissing. Those in the campaign may not like it, but there has been no torrent (publicly) of anti-gay sentiment that I could find. Just whining about the shock value. And plenty of publicity for Benetton.

The Unhate Foundation has a great film included in its campaign that also includes some gay kissing. And they are much sexier than the world leaders images as well. Check it out and let us know what you think.