On December 12 a 23-year-old woman was raped on a bus in New Delhi. Her boyfriend was badly beaten. All the men on the bus allegedly joined in the sexual assault. Even the driver. Six men are awaiting trial. The victim died of her injuries 13 days later. The driver hanged himself in his jail cell a few weeks ago. He’s no longer awaiting trial.
On March 15 a 39-year-old Swiss woman was enjoying a cycling trip with her husband through India. While camped for the night in Madhya Pradesh state, she was raped so many times that she doesn’t know the exact number. Her husband was beaten. Five men have been arrested. Two more are sought.
Meanwhile, Ford Motor Company is trying to capture a larger share of the growing Indian auto market. If you’re one of Ford’s “Mad Men” in India, you’re trying to come up with an attention-grabbing advertising campaign for the new Figo. The snappy compact sports a spacious cargo area, but it’s still small enough to navigate India’s crowded streets. “I know!”, the ad men say. “Let’s show auto buyers that the cargo area is big enough to hold three big-breasted women! They’re being kidnapped!”
An alarm bell should have gone off as soon as a junior copywriter ran this idea up the flagpole. But it didn’t. The concept advanced far enough within Ford’s ad agency that a couple of prototype posters were developed. One showed a smiling Paris Hilton kidnapping the three Kardashian sisters while they’re bound and gagged. Another shows dirty-old-man Silvio Berlusconi kidnapping three young well-endowed women, also bound, gagged and shoved into the Figo’s spacious cargo bay. (The former Italian prime minister is awaiting trial in a sex-for-hire case.)
That’s when the curried rice hit the fan. Someone leaked the posters to an advertising website. Outrage erupted. Not only were the ads were offensive and degrading to women, but it was especially thick-headed for the agency to create those ads for the Indian market at a time when sexual violence against women in that country was front-page news all around the world.
Ford attempted to apologize. “We deeply regret this incident and agree with our agency partners that it should have never happened,” Ford said. “The posters are contrary to the standards of professionalism and decency within Ford and our agency partners.” Ford’s advertising agency also gave apology a try, saying the posters “were never intended for paid publication and should never have been created, let alone uploaded to the Internet.” For professionals who make a living by stringing words together, their statements fall short of full acceptance of responsibility.
Do not use the word “happen” in an apology. Ever. It’s a not-very-subtle technique to evade responsibility. The word carries with it the implication that the whole sorry mess was just an accident, a quirk of fate, an unlucky break for which no one is really to blame. By referring to the creation of the misogynistic ads as an “incident” that “should have never happened”, Ford obscures the fact that it was Ford’s own “agency partner” that came up with the terribly misguided idea and moved it along far enough that it created prototype advertising posters.
Ford’s ad agency said the posters “were never intended for paid publication and should never have been created, let alone uploaded to the Internet.” But is there any other reason to create such posters other than as a proposal for “paid publication” advertisements? Are Ford and its ad agency any less blameworthy because someone blew the whistle on them before they managed to get the posters published? And, as loyal readers already know, the passive voice is another enemy of responsibility acceptance. It names the action but not the one responsible for the action. The phrase “should not have been created” conveniently fails to identify who did the creating.
Ford Motor, how about this apology instead?
An advertising agency selected by Ford Motor Company prepared an ad campaign for use in India that callously makes light of a serious problem: exploitation of and sexual violence against women. We are investigating to see if any Ford employee ever saw these ads before they appeared on the Internet. But whether Ford saw these ads or not, Ford is responsible for them. These advertisements are especially inappropriate and tasteless because of recent high-profile acts of sexual violence in the very country for which our ad agency prepared them. We are reviewing the method we use to educate our advertising agencies on Ford’s standards and expectations, and we’re also determining how we can do a better job of making sure those agencies comply with those standards. We apologize to Kim, Khloe and Kortney Kardashian. The ads depicted you in a degrading way that you in no way deserved. We also apologize the Prime Minister Berlusconi. It was totally inappropriate of us to make light of your ongoing troubles. Ford Motor Company will make every effort to do better in the future and advertise our products in a way that respects and promotes the dignity of all women.
Ironically, the ads carried the Ford Figo’s new slogan: “Leave Your Worries Behind.” Of course, for the automaker and its ad agency, their worries are just starting. The Kardashian sisters are considering their legal remedies. (Dad Kardashian was one of O.J. Simpson’s lawyers.) And Italy/India diplomatic relations, which had been on the upswing, took a dive. No, Ford’s worries are still there; it’s their reputation that got left behind. A well-crafted apology could have jump-started Ford on the road to recovery of that reputation.
For more information:
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/ford-apologizes-ads-showing-bound-gagged-women-1B9046338
Accepting Responsibility 
This is so important and well written it should be published broadly. Wouldn’t it be lovely if this was the kind of accepting responsibility we heard from our leaders? Thank you.
This is beyond reprehensible for any market and for India, in the precarious time they are in, is beyond asinine!! Who EVER thinks this would sell cars?!? What does this have to DO with cars?? As someone who unfortunately knows way too much about India and the rape culture that abounds there, this is disheartening and sad.
Thank you for showing the outrage this deserves. It means a lot to someone who has lived this and does not find it amusing.