New York: The Indian operation of a worldwide advertising agency has fired employees and apologized after an uproar over fake celebrity poster ads that were created for a real agency client, Ford Motor, without Ford’s approval or authorization.
The ads were produced by employees of JWT India, part of the JWT unit of WPP, and depicted well-known figures like Paris Hilton and Silvio Berlusconi behind the wheel of a Ford Figo hatchback. In the trunk of the hatchback in each poster ad were women, bound and gagged; in the ad featuring Ms. Hilton, the women in the trunk resembled the Kardashian sisters.
The ads were uploaded to an industry Web site, Ads of the World, and, according to a post on the adage.com Web site of the trade publication Advertising Age, also entered in an Indian advertising awards competition. They were subsequently withdrawn from both outlets after vituperative comments about the poster ads began appearing in social media.
The ads were “never intended for paid publication, were never requested by our Ford client and never should have been created, let alone uploaded to the Internet,” JWT said in a statement. The statement included an apology, which called the ads “distasteful” and “contrary to the standards of professionalism and decency at JWT.” The statement also disclosed that, “after a thorough internal review, we have taken appropriate disciplinary action with those involved, which included the exit of employees.”
The statement did not identify the employees or suggest how many were fired. The adage.com post said those dismissed included two senior creative executives at JWT India, one of whom was also the managing partner there. In addition to the apology from JWT, the Indian operation of Ford Motor also apologized for the ads. The content of the fake ads was deemed particularly contentious because of a recent series of well-publicized sex crimes against Indian women.
The dispute over the poster ads is not common in advertising, but it is not unheard of either. From time to time, there are controversies generated by ads produced by employees or executives of an agency without authorization or approval from clients. Such ads, known as spec ads, are typically created for amusement or to enter in an awards show in place of actual ads. The rogue nature of spec ads was underlined by the statement from JWT, which said the ad posters “did not go through the normal review and oversight process” at JWT India.
The Internet and social media have made it far easier for unauthorized ads to be seen more widely, beyond the agency employees who create them and the judges of the awards shows in which the ads may be entered.
