It wasnt the first time an ad created a controversy. It wasnt the first time an ad was classified as offensive and bad in taste by some. It wasnt the first time a scam ad was made by an advertising agency with or without its clients knowledge. It was,however,the first time an agency fired its top executives to placate an offended client over an ad spotted and decried by a small section of global media. The client in question is auto maker Ford India; the agency is one of the countrys leading creative shops JWT; the men sacrificed are JWTs national creative director and managing partner Bobby Pawar and Vijay Simha Vellanki,creative director,Blue Hive,a WPP unit managing Ford account and the ads in question comprise three outdoor posters one of which shows a caricature of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi flashing a victory sign while three semi-clad,gagged and bound women lay in the boot of his car. Another poster shows global celebrity Paris Hilton riding a car with the look-alikes of US reality TV actors Kardashian sisters lying in the boot,again tied and gagged. The tagline of all the three posters reads: Leave your worries behind with Figos extra large boot. Even as some debate the scandalous content of the three posters,many in the industry have questioned the swift reprisal meted out to JWT employees. This isnt the first time an ad offended some people but I am surprised at the hurry in which heads rolled, said Prathap Suthan,an industry veteran and the founder of standalone agency Bang in the Middle. I am wondering if the agency was trying to appease some global gods or the client really feared some political flutter locally given the recent atmosphere in the country (on the issue of insensitivity towards women) or from a country with which India is having some troubles? Both JWT and Ford India refused to answer any questions on the development. Without answering a detailed questionnaire sent by The Indian Express,Ford India merely said: .The posters are contrary to the standards of professionalism and decency within Ford and our agency partners. After an internal review,our agency partners took appropriate disciplinary action. JWTs statement said: We deeply regret the publishing of posters. These were never intended for paid publication,were never requested by our Ford client and should never have been created,let alone uploaded to the internet. Most in the industry are quiet on the issue but some said on the condition of anonymity that there was more to the incident that met the eyes. Agencies have lost clients in the past on controversial issues and on some rare occasions,some junior staffers have been kicked out. Throwing top men out makes it first such incident and raises some legitimate questions such as how could such a campaign be created and sent to an award event without the knowledge of the bosses at the agency as well as the client, asks a top honcho at a leading agency. According to JWT insiders,the three posters in question were created during December last year and the sole objective was to enter Abby Awards at Goafest,Indias largest advertising festival held around April every year. Such ads are referred to as scam ads as they are never released on mass media platforms but made only to win accolades at ad festivals. In order to weed out such ads,many organisers ask agencies to get a letter of approval from the client. According to a senior executive overseeing entries at Goafest,this year,13 entries were received on behalf of Ford India. All of them accompanied letters of approval from a senior executive of Ford India. A striking fact,however,was that while 10 entries had the titles of the campaign written on the letters,the three posters in question didnt have any titles but only the signatures, the executive said. Shashi Sinha,chairman of the Abby Awards Governing Council,said it was difficult for Goafest authorities to say whether the letters were fudged by JWT or if Ford knew about the campaigns but tried to play it safe by not naming them in its signed letters. Technically,we had letters of approval from Ford India for all the 13 entries including the controversial posters. Whether there was some scam in this is known only to JWT and Ford India, he said.
