United Colors tipping hat in jobless young

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TREVISO, Italy, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Italian clothing brand United Colors of Benetton's latest campaign ad is meant to draw attention to the productive lives of young people without jobs.

Featuring a contest the company is sponsoring to find the "Unemployee of the Year," a statement from United Colors of Benetton said it is trying to bring attention to the point "that being non-employed doesn't mean being useless, lazy or an anarchist."

In a contest organized by the company's Unhate Foundation, 100 winners will be given $6,526 each, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

Contest entrants, who must be unemployed and between the ages of 18 and 30, must submit a proposal for a project to benefit their communities.

The deadline for proposals is Oct. 14 and the winners will be chosen by voters online.

Work for youth has become a popular cause. Starbucks in June started a line of merchandise with the proceeds to go to Create Jobs for USA, a fund the company began.

Currently, the worldwide unemployment rate among those 15-24 is 12.7 percent, International Labor Organization data shows.

The U.S. recession alone erased 2.7 million jobs that generally were filled by youth, the newspaper said.