Chief Creative Officer, JWT India Resigns Amid Ford Controversy

India-AYoung creatives at JWT India may have been responsible for creating the series of controversial “bondage” ads ostensibly promoting the trunk room in Ford Figos, but senior management at the agency have taken the fall as well.

Multiple press reports coming out of India say that Bobby Pawar, chief creative officer, at JWT India is among those departing in the wake of the scandal. Vijay Simha Vellanki -- creative director of Blue Hive, the agency unit that worked on the Ford account -- has also departed. Both executives were reportedly asked to resign. It’s believed that lower ranking staffers were fired outright.

Pawar was quoted in the Economic Times of India saying, “What happened is unfortunate. But no matter what the circumstances, it did happen on my watch."

Neither WPP or JWT reps returned queries seeking comment on the forced departures of Pawar and Vellanki. Earlier, JWT, WPP and Ford all apologized for the fact that the ads were publicly displayed, claiming that they were not properly vetted through the normal approval process and were not intended to be part of any paid ad campaign by the carmaker.

Without naming names, JWT did confirm yesterday that some agency personnel were shown the door for their roles in the creation of the ads.

The ads were apparently approved by agency higher-ups for entry into a contest hosted by India’s Ad Club, which is why they were showcased on the Adsoftheworld.com Web site. They were pulled Friday March 22, the same day they were posted, after public condemnation started pouring in. The Economic Times reported that both Pawar and Vellanki were listed as creative directors when the ads were posted.

The contretemps could become even messier for the agency and its client. The Kardashian sisters, who were portrayed in one ad as bound and gagged in the trunk of a car driven by Paris Hilton, said in a statement earlier that they were considering a lawsuit. They characterized the ads as “offensive to all women.”

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