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Ford Figo ads incite censure

Ford proposed through a recent ad ‘leave your worries behind’ of Ford Figo highlighting that the car has a large trunk space. It seems that the ad campaign has got worries for it. Following the row regarding this, the car maker has apologized. In the ads that it published in India, the car maker had showed up scantily clad and tied three women (termed as worries) in the cargo space and gave the slogan to the ad saying ‘Leave your worries behind.’ Several agencies and women groups have criticized this ad by the car maker and following it Ford and the ad agency WPP have apologized saying such a campaign “should never have happened.”

Experts believe that in a time of crisis and specially at a time of cut throat competition ad agencies want to go an extra mile and in this attempt these err hurting decency and morality. Similar thing has happened here. The ad has in a manner criticized women by terming them as ‘worries’ while in a similar ad it has shown Michael Schumacher behind the wheels of a Figo while three of his male rivals were tied and jammed in the boot. In another similar ad, the car maker has shown Italy PM Silvio Berlusconi on the driver’s seat while three barely clad and tied women were in the cargo space of the car.  

These kinds of overstepping ad campaigns are not new to the car industry. Recently Tata has also shown its Tata Sumo Gold flying over houses and landing on terraces with a disclaimer though but this is also considered ridiculous. But ads are ads and these have little real value. But the ad by Ford is really condemnable as showing up women as worries or things that are to be kept in bondage and in trunk space is censurable.