Ford India apologises over Berlusconi bondage ad

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http://www.todayonline.com/world/quirky-world/ford-india-apologises-over-berlusconi-bondage-ad

The Indian unit of Ford Motor Co. has apologized for advertisements decried as demeaning to women, including one depicting Italy’s former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi with a trio of bound women in the trunk of a car.

The ads caused an uproar online and came just after India passed a new law on violence against women following a fatal gang rape of a student on a bus that prompted mass protests and spotlighted the status of women in India.

Featuring Ford’s logo, one ad showed three women bound and gagged in the trunk of an Indian-made compact, the Ford Figo, with Berlusconi smiling from the driver’s seat alongside the slogan “Leave your worries behind with the Figo’s extra-large boot.”

Similar ads featured Paris Hilton apparently kidnapping reality television rivals the Kardashian sisters — all three sisters tied up and one in a bikini — and Formula One driver Michael Schumacher abducting his male racing competition.

Ford said Monday that it regrets the incident, calling the images “contrary to the standards of professionalism and decency within Ford.”

JWT India’s CEO also condemned the ads.

“These were made as posters by individuals. They have never been paid for and were not expected to be released,” he told India’s Economic Times newspaper.