The Ford Motor Company has been embroiled in controversy for the past few weeks for ads that featured women tied up and gagged in the back of a Ford Figo, which has been sold in India since last year.
The ads prompted Bobby Pawar, the chief executive officer of JWT India, the company that came up with the ads for Ford, to resign. Vijay Simha Vellanki, the head Blue Hive, which manages the Ford business, also resigned.
Pawar told The Hindu: “As a leader, this incident happened on my watch. I have to take moral responsibility for it.”
The ad campaign was never officially rolled out, but drafts of the ads were published on a number of websites.
“After a thorough internal review, we have taken appropriate disciplinary action with those involved, which included the exit of employees at JWT. These were necessary steps owing to the direct accountability of the concerned individuals as we work to ensure that both the right oversight and processes are strictly enforced so that this never happens again,” JWT said in a statement.
The New York Times pointed out that the most controversial of the ads included former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi looking back, making the peace sign with his fingers, while three women are tied in the back. At the bottom of the ad, it reads, “Leave your worries behind.”
And one of the ads appears to depict reality TV sisters Kim, Khloe, and Kourtney Kardashian tied up in the back while Paris Hilton looks back from the driver’s seat.
An attorney for the Kardashian family told E! News late last month that the family might pursue legal action against the automaker.
“It is unacceptable that Ford would align itself with an ad agency that would so carelessly release these ads,” the lawyer said.
Ford also issued an apology last month amid the controversy surrounding the Indian ads
“We deeply regret this incident and agree with our agency partners that it should have never happened. The posters are contrary to the standards of professionalism and decency within Ford and our agency partners,” the company said, according to ABC.
