Three Ads All Gone Wrong?
We have seen many ads that backfire against companies. In continuation with our blog from last week’s controversial ad created by Hyundai, we have come across another major car company facing an outrage from the citizens of India. Ford’s third party advertising agency in India created three print ads to promote the new Ford Figo, in which one of the ads featured Italy’s former Prime Minister having three women in the trunk, tied up, gagged, and crying. The main theme of the ads was showing the Figo’s exceptional trunk space with the saying “Leave your worries behind with the Figo’s extra-large boot.”
The reason why this has sparked up great controversy is because of the fact that one of India’s recent biggest headlines was regarding the rape and the murder of a young woman on the bus. During a sensitive time in India, there have also been many protests about the way women are treated and this has been an ongoing issue. To create print ads with females in the trunk being oppressed would undoubtedly create controversy not only in India, but also in other parts of the world facing similar issues. Despite the fact that these ads were leaked online, they were never approved by Ford and were not made public.
What about the other two?
It seems the focus of these ads were to “toss your problems in the trunk of the car.” One of the other ads featured a woman, which appears to be Paris Hilton in the front seat of the car with her three Kardashian rivals tied up in the trunk. The third and last ad was also a Michael Schumacher cartoon in the front seat with three (male) competitors in the trunk also tied up.
So the question arises, whether the ad company intended to degrade women or to get a specific point across. Was it wise to create this kind of ad in a time where India is in dire need of stricter regulations regarding womens rights? Is Ford to blame for these ads, even though they disapproved it from going public? Will Ford still keep the ad agency that has put their reputation on the line?
