Who are the ad wizards who came up with the Figo fiasco?

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I was really busy last week when this broke, but when I saw it, my first thought was, Who thought this was a good idea?

Then I saw it came from ad designers in India, which caused me to think, Wow, like India’s reputation needed this.

My final thought on the subject — and no story I’ve seen fully answers the question — was, What were they trying to convey about the car? That it had a roomy cargo bay (the copy mentions an “extra-large boot”)? And this was the best way they could convey that? It may be more prosaic, but I think the line I once heard from a Toyota salesman that the Camry had a six-golf-bag trunk was more effective.

The stories I saw only went about this far in explaining:

The most controversial of three advertisements for the Ford Figo, meant to allude to the Indian hatchback’s spacious trunk, showed former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy flashing a victory sign while driving a vehicle with three scantily clad gagged women in the rear. Two other versions of the advertisement show the reality television star Paris Hilton kidnapping the Kardashian sisters and the Formula 1 driver Michael Schumacher abducting three of his rivals.

The advertisements in question were never used for a Ford campaign, but were uploaded by JWT employees on Ads of the World, an international advertising Web site which gives awards for ads submitted by users. They have since been removed from the Web site. Soon after posting, they spread quickly through social media and attracted criticism for their sexist message, particularly as India grapples with numerous high-profile incidents of violence against women…

OK, one more question: Did they think the one with the guys in it made it OK? That would be from the David Brent school of political correctness: “‘Does this make my ass look big?’ It’s not sexist, that’s the bloke saying it – at LAST…”

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16 thoughts on “Who are the ad wizards who came up with the Figo fiasco?”

  1. Brad Warthen Post author

    One more thought — this looks kind of like the style of an artist who used to work at Mad magazine. Like someone who did some of the movie spoofs, or something. Anybody else seeing that?

  2. Steven Davis II

    Have you ever noticed McDonalds commercials on television… were they all made to run on BET? Or do only black people go to McDonalds now.

  3. John

    The whole thing is creepy. The difference between the facial expressions and gag types makes it a really thorough sort of creepy.

    It does look like Mad magazine but that doesn’t buy it funny points.

  5. bud

    Check out some of the very sexist ads from the 1950s. Some of those are actually worse. One showed a husband spanking his wife because she bought the wrong brand of coffee.

    1. Nick

      I remember this dialog from an ad from the 60s, but not what it was for. I want to say spaghetti sauce or something.

      [wolf whistle]
      Male voice: “That’s so-ome tomato!”
      Female voice: “Fresh!”

  6. Kathryn Fenner

    When I sold 1979 Pontiacs, I used to get in the trunk to show how roomy it was, and into the back seat, to show off my legs. That was then….

    1. Brad Warthen Post author

      Not that I’m endorsing the ad or anything, but there needs to be some sort of punishment for anyone who bought the wrong coffee… 🙂

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