Ford’s Marketing Disaster in India
Ford’s Marketing Disaster in India

Poor timing and cultural insensitivity landed the automative company in hot water

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

Even large, successful companies can make marketing errors.

In 2013, as movements against sexual harassment were gaining traction and spreading around the globe, Ford found themselves in hot water. The automative company — well-known for their advertisements involving trucks, sedans, and sports cars — committed an unforgivable breach.

To celebrate the release of the Ford Figo in India, a creative advertising team released a cartoon advertisement on Ford’s behalf.

The content was as bizarre as it is terrible: a drawing of three bound and gagged women in the trunk of the car.

It seems hard to believe that such an advertisement would be released, right?

But it was released, and it’s as bad as it sounds. One of the images depicted the Italian politician Silvio Berlusconi, who was then facing charges (and later convicted) of paying for sex with a minor.

The women pictured in the ad included two women who had made sexual assault claims against Berlusconi.

The advertisement, which I won’t show here, can be found in this article from USA Today.

If the image makes you shudder, the Ford Figo’s motto makes the advertisement even worse: “Leave your worries behind.”

And it doesn’t stop there. The marketing team released another cartoon advertisement, similarly drawn and with equally-poor taste. There is no need to show another crude image, as you likely understand now how bad the advertisements were.

These images aren’t meant to attract page views, and I don’t post the image sheerly for shock value. It’s important to understand, however, just how important safeguards are when running a marketing agency.
['Aaron Schnoor']
['Advertising', 'Business', 'Marketing', 'Money', 'Social Media']