Bobby Pawar, Chief Creative Officer and Managing Partner, JWT India, has stepped down from the advertising agency, after an ad campaign it created for Ford Figo created a huge furore.

One ad shows a caricature of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi flashing a peace sign, with three skimpily-clad women, gagged and handcuffed in the trunk of the compact car, to represent its large boot space. Another advertisement depicts a smiling Paris Hilton, with TV stars the Kardashians bound in the boot. These ads, meant for the Italian and American markets, were posted on the Web site Ads Of The World.

The campaign, which was subsequently pulled out, has raised the hackles of many around the world for its “offensive”, “sexist” nature.

Confirming the exit, Pawar, who had moved from Mudra to JWT over 15 months ago, said, "This incident happened on my watch and as a leader, I have to take moral responsibility for it."

Reportedly, Vijay Simha, Senior Creative Director at Blue Hive, a WPP division handling the Ford account, has also stepped down.

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

The JWT statement adds: “We deeply regret the publishing of posters that were distasteful and contrary to the standards of professionalism and decency at JWT. These were never intended for paid publication, were never requested by our client, Ford, and should never have been created, let alone uploaded to the Internet. These posters were created by individuals within the agency and did not go through the normal review and oversight process."

Ford too has apologised over the issue.

Branding expert Harish Bijoor says while shock value is appreciated, racist ads and ads with gender bias are totally unacceptable. "If the Ford ad is a scam ad for the sake of winning an award, then it is unethical. The politically correct world never uses such stuff; it is not great for Ford."

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