Sunday, March 24, 2013

The Greatest Ad Campaign Ever - But Ford Is Apologizing

Whoever came up with this ad for Ford in Italy obviously has a sense of humor. I love it. I think it is hilarious. Apparently people don't appreciate my sense of humor though and have deemed it appalling and Ford has actually apologized. Why? Make it a SuperBowl ad. I think this should be handed out at every Ford dealer in the world. Goodness knows I am no Paris Hilton fan, but it does not really work as well with someone else in the front seat. If it was some random person it would be over the line, but with Paris in the front seat, it is just funny.

48 comments:

RangersGirl said...

This is too funny!! Why would they apologize, it's a funny ad.

LottaColada said...

Genius! Bravo to Ford Italy

DewieTheBear said...

I can't stand the Kartrashians but that ad is in very poor taste for a major manufacturer.

Agent**It said...

Enty, it was Ford India, not Italy.

source: http://www.torontosun.com/2013/03/24/ford-india-apologizes-for-offensive-ads

it took forever said...

Remember when kim used to be paris stylist, now the student has passed the teacher lol

Jonathan Andrew Sheen said...

It's Ford India, and this is part of a series of ads, another of which has abducted women tied up in the back while a sneering guy looks back over his shoulder at them.

In a country that's had a recent rash of public gang-rapes.

Yeah, Ford's right to apologize.

Halfmad said...

Uh...you should see the other ones, where Berlusconi has a trunk of women who are bound and gagged and crying. There can be some humor when it's over the top like this, but that was the one that first came to light and it merely looks like "A guy is kidnapping three women." It's creepy and gross.

Also, these aren't real ads. They are spec work done by a division of JWT in India (not Italy!) and were posted to a site called Ads of the World. It's a peer-review site where all the perpetual teenagers in advertising (I work in advertising) go to prove what badasses they are. It's not work that Ford okayed or even knew about ahead of time.

Here's the original gross ad for some context:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/24/ford-india-figo-ad-bound-and-gagged-women_n_2941297.html

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Halfmad said...

Other people basically beat me to the above, but yeah.

auntliddy said...

Ok, good to know, thank you, and they shld say sorry.

SusanB said...

I dislike any ad that shows women tied up and/or abducted. Try looking at http://www.missrepresentation.org/

It's wrong to tolerate any ads that demean women (although the KKlan certainly demeans women every day). Women shouldn't tolerate this. Also check out Missrepresentation on Facebook.

ethorne said...

Why does Khloe have the ball gag & crossed eyes? Shouldn't that be Kum? (Misspell & it stays)

Catarina said...

Genius!

dia papaya said...

As a stand alone piece it's hysterical! I want to trap them in my trunk too.

In context with the other two, very very creepy.

Frufra said...

@SusanB - thanks - right up my alley - I'll be hopping over to Missrepresentation right now.

DewieTheBear said...

@Halfmad, thanks for the backgrounder. I didn't even think of the association of rape/abduction in India but now I'm even more offended.

This type of sexist crap is what I'd expect from GoDaddy.

ForSure said...

I've been torn about this since I saw it an hour ago, but my first instinctive response stands. In light of everything that has been going on with women's issues lately, I just cannot find humor in this. I tried, I really did, because of the Paris/Kardashian connection and my own desire to see the whole lot of them go away, but women tied up for advertising purposes is just not funny to me.

ForSure said...

Thanks for the additional links. :)

Frufra said...

ATTENTION ATTENTION - All my CDaN peeps who care about women and children (and that should be all of you!):

Every time you hit the facebook or twitter "share" button on this article, Johnson & Johnson and The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will contribute $5 to Girl Up. Every day, between now and Mother's Day, there will be a new Huffington Post article that you can share in this same manner. There are four important causes that will be funded by this campaign.

Now get to clickin' and sharin', people! Let's show 'em we mean business about our sisters and children around the world!

Frufra said...

Crap, forgot the link!!!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lynda-lopez/lynda-lopez-girl-up_b_2920180.html?comm_crv

timebob said...

If it was any other combination of people I would say it was offensive. But it's hilarious.

Angela said...

This spec ad is just awful. It doesn't put any attention on the car on any way, just on a bunch of fame attention whores. Out of the US, almost nobody cares about Hilton or the Kardashians. Showing them as a stronger and more recognizable brand than Ford is just so misguided that it defies understanding.

I hope it was a parody rather than an actual project supposed to catch the attention of an ad firm. Anyway, it's globalization at its worst.

timebob said...

How is it anything but a parody?

Agent**It said...

If it ALL was from FORD USA DETROIT, MICHIGAN I would find it hilarious.


But a Third World country that is just beginning to expose systemic violence and hatred of women? While working our previous jobs and being paid with actual peanuts? Ford India..

CrazyCatLady said...

And its not an ad campaign. It's work that was done purely for one of the advertising awards show.

mooshki said...

Unless you know that it's Paris, and know her whole story, this is incredibly offensive.

mooshki said...

Oh, and even if you know who they are, the first glimpse of the ad could be really triggering for someone who was assaulted.

Once again, I ask: some of you really think Enty is a woman?

__-__=__ said...

Rape culture. India gets none of my money if I can help it.

All about Eve said...

@Jonathan Andrew S, I agree, if it was another country I wouldn't object but after all the horrible assaults against women in India it's not funny.

PugsterMom said...

I totally agree. This is wrong on every possible level. And i can't stand the KTrashians. But with the Joss Stone attempted murder and kidnapping trial on right now why give maniacs ideas?

ureallyannoyme said...

Triggering? Lol. Is this Jezebel?

Trigger alert: I'm a woman and i think it's clever. A trunk so big it'll hold the KArdashians and their massive asses.

Unknown said...

As it has been established above, these weren't real ads, weren't ordered or okay's by Ford, and just posted to a site that is equivalent of the fanatics who post their anime frames for the entertainment and general dick measuring. So, your ire should be directed to whomever drew these in an attempt to shock and one up their peers. As someone who has been forcibly raped and held against my will, Im guessing my view comes from a different perspective than yours, not saying that this gives me any higher authority, however, just different. I see this as much more benign than yourself, considering all of the massive amounts of rape, gangbang, BDSM, forced "real" sexual fantasy materials, some using young women that are very questionable over 18, that is free to anyone to view on hundreds of porn sites that are much more dangerous to be accepted and normalized in society. The other two frames were much more in the vein of the above mentioned porn, however, this one involves 4 women, and knowing the inside gossip concerning the past relationships of the 4, and that doesn't involve any type of implied rape, sexual overtones, or conclusive serious harm. Sorry this is so long, hoping I can put this in perspective coming from a side you may not have dealt with in your past.

Amy in MI said...

Dearborn, not Detroit :) ( I work in Dearborn lol)

amused bush said...

Hmm...I don't find the ad funny at all. KK-connection or not. Regardless of where the ad(s) originated, representing violence against women, even if jokingly, I find offensive.

amused bush said...

Do you boycott the US too? "Rape Culture" is pervasive and systemic and NOT limited to India.

Agent**It said...

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2013/02/indias-brutal-rape-problem-beyond-out-hand/62406/

ForSure said...

Just a reminder that those of us viewing on a computer and not a mobile device see the thread in linear order, so if you are responding "under" someone, we have no idea.


For those of you that think India is the only place with a rape problem, you might want to Google "Notre Dame Football sexual assault".

parissucksliterally said...

BRILLIANT!

di butler said...

Do you mind elaborating on, "everything that's been going on in women's issues, lately?" As a past survivor of rape and abuse, its an important issue for me, so I volunteer time with centers who lobby the government, because I worked in politics for many years, and have that background. Drawing a blank as to what might have changed in the last year to two, and am drawing a blank, eliminating all the political pandering and hyperbole, that the candidates on both sides used to shape their message to woo their supporters, of course. I assume you meant real issues...?

__-__=__ said...

FS - you won't find me going to Notre Dame, Peen State or any football games. I stopped cable years ago. I'm not participating. I don't travel to countries that advocate honor killing. I don't travel to countries that sell their children freely. F-them all.

MadLyb said...

As a woman who is instilled with a strong sense of justice, I find many reasons to be pissed off at the old fart, oppressive, suffocating patriarchal bullshit that has infected the planet for a couple thousand years, but this is not one of them. There are feminists (aka: people who believe that women are humans too) who hae a sense of humor. This is funny, and I loves it!

MadLyb said...

AND I'm a Ford Focus owner who fucking loves my car. This thing has run strong, with only 2 minor repairs (one was 100% covered, the other was a speedometer issue) in 10 years and is still going strong after having had a teenager dent it a week after I bought it, then crash it, and a garage full of snow falling on top of it, then rolling down a hill during an after work Christmas Party and hitting a truck.

mooshki said...

"Lol. Is this Jezebel?"

I'm sorry, is there a word you'd prefer I use? How about "nauseating." My gut flipped over when I saw this picture, and I've never been assaulted. I can't imagine how bad it would be for someone who had been.

Halfmad said...

@di butler, rape in India has become so pervasive there is a Wiki page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_in_India

Also, a recent heinous gang-rape made international news because the woman was so brutalized she died from her injuries -- but not before id-ing her attackers. And just last week a tourist was gang-raped. It has been in the news a lot.

Sandy said...

Well, I know I'D certainly like someone to kidnap those famewhores and dispose of them forever.

It's a little funny that in this ad it's Hilton, but yeah, this is generally in pretty terrible taste.

crila16 said...

I think it's hysterical. All 3 of them that I saw.

Anonymous said...

I think it's funny, only because we all hate the Kardashian's so much. If it was anyone else in the picture i.e Paris and the Kardashians, then we'd all be up in arms.

jax said...

perspective:

the joke is about a WOMAN kidnapping 3 other women to save her celeb status, who have all eclipsed her in fame.

This one is funny. I have not seen the others and agree showing them in India in light of recent events is beyond stupid, but holy shit, you really are looking for things that are not there.

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