Ford Apologizes for Offensive ‘Berlusconi’ Figo Ads

[AsahinaKimi]

A print ad used to promote the Ford Figo compact car in India is causing controversy among people who say it is offensive, distasteful and misogynistic. Indeed, the pitch has drawn so much fire that Ford Motor Co. has apologized for it.

The ad features a caricature of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi at the wheel of a Figo with three women bound and gagged in the car’s cargo bay. The Figo is known for its luggage capacity and Ford’s tagline for the car is, “Leave your worries behind with Figo’s extra-large boot.”

“We deeply regret this incident and agree with our agency partners that it should have never happened,” Ford said in a statement. “The posters are contrary to the standards of professionalism and decency within Ford and our agency partners.”

The Berlusconi ad is one in a trio of similarly styled ads that serve as examples of how advertising can approach, push, and violate the limits of public acceptance.

more..http://blogs.wsj.com/drivers-seat/2013/03/23/ford-apologizes-for-offensive-berlusconi-figo-ads/?mod=WSJBlog&mod=WSJ_Autos_Driversseat

[ljm2002]

1. OMG that is so beyond the pale...

...and we still have people here on DU who can't see what women are talking about when they talk about rape culture.

Yes, the ad was run in India not the US. But misogynistic thinking is a global affair, it is deeply embedded, and it needs to be obliterated.

The fact that anyone at Ford or their "agency partners" would even dream up this ad, much less create it, and that any publisher anywhere would accept it and run it, just appalls my sense of humanity.

We may have come a long way, baby, but we've got a longer way to go still.

[Gormy Cuss]

2. Looks like this ad went straight to violating the limits of acceptance.

Ford should hire Jean Kilbourne to do sensitivity training.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Kilbourne