Ford apologises after distasteful JWT India mockup ads are published online

It has been reported that a young creative was responsible and JWT is taking serious action against him or her. 

The most controversial of the three ads for the Ford Figo features former Italian prime-minister Silvio Berlusconi at the wheel of a Ford Figo with three bound and gagged women in the trunk. 

According to the cached copy of the now-removed ad, the creative was credited to:

The other two ads show the Kardashian sisters tied up in the boot driven by Paris Hilton and Michael Schumacher driving off with F1 racers Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. The slogan for the mock campaign was 'Leave your worries behind, with Figo's extra-large boot'. 

Ford promptly apologised for the ads and they were taken down from Adsoftheworld.com. 

"We deeply regret this incident and agree with our agency partners that it should have never happened," said a Ford spokesperson. "The posters are contrary to the standards of professionalism and decency within Ford and our agency partners. Together with our partners, we are reviewing approval and oversight processes to help ensure nothing like this ever happens again.’’

The spokesperson added: "We are taking this very seriously."

JWT's parent company WPP likewise issued a statement regretting the "distasteful" nature of the posters and clarifying that the ads were never intended for paid publication and should never have been created, let alone uploaded to the internet. "This was the result of individuals acting without proper oversight and appropriate actions have been taken within the agency where they work to deal with the situation.”

Update 28 March: Campaign UK has reported that JWT has fired the creative team involved in the ad. The statement issued by JWT India said: ""After a thorough internal review, we have taken appropriate disciplinary action with those involved, which included the exit of employees at JWT."