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Benetton have caused controversy this morning after their new ad campaign shows world leaders 'kissing'.

The Italian clothing firm was heavily criticised, especially by the Vatican, for using an image of Pope Benedict kissing Ahmed Mohamed el-Tayeb, one of Islam's leading figures.

The image was actually hung near a bridge in the holy city.

Other images in the campaign, which is part of the Italian firm's support for the Unhate Foundation, show various world leaders kissing on the mouth including Barack Obama and Hugo Chavez, Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas and Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy.

Benetton says 'What does UNHATE mean? UN-hate. Stop hating, if you were hating. Unhate is a message that invites us to consider that hate and love are not as far away from each other as we think. Actually, the two opposing sentiments are often in a delicate and unstable balance. Our campaign promotes a shift in the balance: don’t hate, Unhate'.

Pictures: United Colours of Benetton