Senior JWT executive resigns over controversial Ford ad

Two senior executives linked to the controversial Ford Figo advertisements, that depicted among others Silvio Berlusconi, have reportedly been asked to resign following the uproar over them.

JWT India’s chief creative officer Bobby Pawar and Vice President & Senior Creative Director at Global Team Ford JWTVijay Simha, have resigned following the controversy, reports stated.

“After an internal review, we have taken appropriate disciplinary action with those involved, which included the exit of employees at JWT. These were necessary steps owing to the direct accountability of the individuals as we work to ensure that both the right oversight and processes are strictly enforced so that this never happens again,” said a statement from JWT.

[caption id=“attachment_676873” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The controversial advertisement.[/caption]

In an email to the Economic Times, Pawar was quoted as saying, “What happened is unfortunate. But no matter what the circumstances, it did happen on my watch.”

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The advertisements were part of a Ford Figo advertisement campaign that Firstpost's Anant Rangaswami had explained were more to do with competing in the advertisement awards than with promoting Ford or a particular brand of car. However, the move backfired following the controversy over the advertisements, particularly the one featuring Berlusconi.