by a Thinker, Sailor, Blogger, Irreverent Guy from Madras

Ford Go Further with Berlusconi, Paris Hilton ad bloopers


One would have thought the shameful December gang rape in Delhi and a brutal rape a day being reported since, we Indians would have learnt some sense.

That the lessons were not taken seriously was caricatured by the pronouncements of the President’s son on painted-dented women, religious leader Asaram Bapu’s advice to victims to plead with rapists as brothers and what not.

At least the corporate India seemed to have had better sense, or so was the thought.  But not so it seems.

Ford India (or in the words of Thompson and Thomson), to be more precise, their advertising agency JWT India, released insensitive online advertisements featuring Ford’s compact car Figo, last Friday.  Ford's corporate motto may be Go Further, but in this case they went too far.

Three cartoon ads (and hence the reference to Tintin characters) showcase the car’s ample trunk space with the tag line “Leave your worries behind with Figo’s extra-large boot.”  Nothing wrong with that, except for the themes they chose to convey the message.

The first Ford Figo ad features Berlusconi on the front seat, his fingers posed in the universal victory sign, with 3 anxious women bound in the trunk.  Worse, the women aren’t depicted as crying or worried, but just looking startled.

In the second caricature Paris Hilton apparently kidnaps her rivals in reality television  - the Kardashian sisters — with all three sisters tied up and one in a bikini to boot (pun intended).  Paris Hilton is winking, while the Kardashian sisters are at least shown frightened.

The third depicts an aged Michael Schumacher again abducting his F1 rivals - Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, bound and gagged.  The only saving grace in the Michael Schumacher ad, is it does not depict bound and gagged women, but only men, in the trunk of the car.

Ford said they regret the incident, calling the images "contrary to the standards of professionalism and decency within Ford."  JWT India's CEO also condemned the ads.

But for an ad agency which boasts of being established in 1929 and a leader in the Indian advertising scene, the ads must be galling for JWT.

ford_figo_michael_schumacher

This ad featuring the F1 drivers, may be the only one that can be considered funny and ad material.
The Silvio Berlusconi and the Paris Hilton-Kardashian sisters ads are quite atrocious; hence you need to click to read more.


ford_figo_silvio_berlusconi

Trust bunga-bunga Silvio Berlusconi to flash ‘V’ sign even as a caricature.

ford_figo_paris_hilton_kardashians

Considering the crassness of the ads, it is a wonder they left out Kim Kardashian’s baby bump.
:-P


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