This presentation talks about the how a bad advertisement can affect a company's image and what repercussions the company have to face in the market. In this presentation we have taken up the recent advertising campaign by Ford for the international markets. The advert campaign was initially planned for print and online media but due to the poor quality of the ads, it was never approved by Ford to be put up for advertisement but the advert agency for Ford India JWT India, owned by WPP Group, released the ads online. What happened thereafter is all in the presentation.

1. FORD’S ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN
An Insight into the controversial campaign

2. ABOUT FORD
Automobile manufacturing company.
Started in the year 1903 by Henry Ford.
Ranked 5th in the world in terms of production.
Ford India ranked 2nd in India in terms of popularity by NM Incite, a Nielsen-McKinsey Company.
Executive Chairman : William Clay Ford, Jr.
President and CEO : Alan R. Mulally

3. FORD’S ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN
Product : Ford Figo
Target market : Australia, Mexico, the Middle East, North Africa and Caribbean countries.
Manufacturing Base : India
Initial advertising medium proposed : Print and online
Advertising Agency : JWT India owned by WPP Group

4. FORD’S ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN
Series of three print adverts for the Global
market .
Depicting the car’s major attribute- Large
space in a compact hatch.
Never been released officially but made way
to the internet via adoftheworld.com website
Attracted worldwide condemnation
Depicted celebrities and sports persons via
cartoons.

5. ADVERTISEMENT ILLUSTRATION #1
Depicting large space, being three ladies tied
and gagged in the trunk area
Usage of sarcasm and slapstick humor
Depicting celebrities. The Kardashian sisters
are seen here in this Controversial Ford Ad
bound and gagged in the back of a Ford Figo
with Paris Hilton in the driver’s seat

6. ADVERTISEMENT ILLUSTRATION #2
Ad references the scandal hit former
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
flashing a peace sign with three tied
women in the boot.
Depicts large space.
Sarcastic and slapstic humor

7. ADVERTISEMENT ILLUSTRATION #3
The advertisement shows race car driver
Michael Schumacher with rivals Sebastian
Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando
Alonso tied up in back of the car!
Depicts large space.
Sarcastic and slapstic humor.

8. FORD’S ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN
What Advertiser wanted
people to perceive.
• Large trunk space in a hatchback.
• Carry all your stuff around and
still have plenty of space to enjoy.
• Easy drivability due to
compactness and lightness of the
car.
• Great fuel economy.
What people perceived
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Humans as luggage.
Offensive.
Inappropriate.
Negative picturisation of females.
Negative humor.
Females being a commodity.

9. FORD’S ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN
What went wrong in the campaign
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Usage of scantly dressed ladies.
Usage of controversial celebrities.
Usage of human beings as luggage.
Depicted a negative sense of sarcasm and slapstick humor amongst the
celebrities.
• Depicted female gender as a commodity of use in one of the ad.
• Favourism in one of the ad.
• Depicted distasteful and corrupted lifestyle.

10. FORD’S ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN
Repercussions
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Worldwide condemnation
Strong criticism from the community and media.
Tarnished Ford’s brand image
Strong reaction from one of the celebs being depicted in one of the
ad.

11. FORD’S ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN
Ford’s and WPP Group’s apology
• Ford’s apology-“The posters are contrary to the standards of professionalism
and decency within Ford and our agency partners. Together with our
partners, we are reviewing approval and oversight processes to help ensure
nothing like this ever happens again”
• WPP’s apology-“We deeply regret the publishing of posters that were
distasteful and contrary to the standards of professionalism and decency
within WPP Group”

12. OUR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN
What we would have done
• Shown the trunk full of luggage and whole
family comfortably sitting in the car and
enjoying the ride.
• Projected the vehicle as part of the family.
• Projected luxury of sedan space in a
hatchback.
• Emphasize on the value proposition
attached to the car.
Media vehicle
• Print media – Newspapers, car magazines
• Television advert- An advert showing all the
attributes of the car
• Internet.-Search engine ads
• Social media
• Public shows – To demonstrate the features
of the car to the people.

13. OUR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN
Budget allocation
Television and YouTube
advert
Print Ads- Magazines &
Newspapers
Public Demonstrations
Social Media

14. FORD’S ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN
Key Takeaways
for a successful
advertising
campaign
Positive message
Social value
Appealability
Characterization

15. THANK YOU
By :Aditya Chaturvedi
Ankush Soni
Anupam Dubey
AshutoshPandey
Sunil Chabrawal