I haven't seen this (yet) but this news came through to me on a newsletter from the BBC. :spew:


There is a grisly ad currently circulating on the internet. The ad for Ford’s SportsKa shows a curious cat poking its head into the sunroof of aforementioned car only for the roof to click shut and cut off its head. The ad would be unthinkable on TV but it is being circulated via personal email, in the same way that jokes spread across the net. Viral marketing campaigns, as they are known, are increasing in number. More and more advertisers are embracing the medium of the viral as a means of airing deliciously daring images, and companies, and charities, are starting to wake up to the possibilities of doing things in video that they would never be able to show on TV because of the censors.

http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=16963

so did anyone write - phone - petition Ford? I was seriously thinking about buying a new Ford Ka until now.

Ford can go **** themselves, I'm never buying a Ford again.

Here is more info on the cat commercial: http://snopes.com/photos/commercials/sportka.asp


Ford's European operation and Ogilvy & Mather, its advertising agency, began an investigation into how a proposed ad — which both insisted had been rejected — had begun circulating on the Internet.

The car maker said the advert was conceived as part of a "viral" campaign, where short videos are released on to the Internet and redistributed by e-mail, as people find them funny. But it insisted it was not meant to be developed. As an alternative, a clip showing a comedy pigeon being thwacked by the bonnet, had been chosen.

"It was done as a proposal somewhere deep down in the bowels of the agency," Ford said. "As soon as we saw it we said absolutely not. We are appalled — this is not something we want to be associated with."

"A full investigation has been ordered by Ford and Ogilvy to determine how this unapproved material found its way into the public domain," said a spokesman for Ford. "The action in the video clip was totally computer generated — no animal was harmed."
However, some cynics have suggested that nothing "backfired," and Ford got exactly what it wanted — an effective "viral marketing" campaign that attracted a good deal of attention to their new SportKa model through the controversy it generated:

[O]ne advertising executive insisted that Ford was protesting too much. "No publicity is bad publicity and the cynical part of me thinks that this 'leaking' was intended all along," he said. "It's got them terrific media coverage, after all."
The alternative concept supposedly chosen by Ford — a clip that shows a SportKa's hood automatically flying open to deflect (and kill) a pigeon attempting to land on it — was found scarcely less offensive by animal rights groups.

The commercial may be gross, but the car is hot. I wish they sold it in this country.

I think we also may want to focus on the advertising industry as much as Ford for coming up with such a horrid commercial in the first place.
Is there any way to find out if its actually computer animated like they say? I think this ad could get a good rouse out of all cat owners and not just animal rights activists if it was brought up to them...

Ford has issued a statement stating they don't support this ad.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/16/tech/main612354.shtml

I'm not really one for the advertisin gcampaign., It ha sdefinitely been designed with shock in mind. The idea behind this marketin gcampaign is quite inventive. After all, as we all know, it doesn't matter how good or bad your product is, all you need is a good advertising campaign - Just look at Fosters. They're marketing campaign has managed to give them quite a sizeable share of the lager market, and it's crap!

This advertisement most likely was released as part of a viral marketing campaign. I doubt that it was a proposed and rejected advertisement, which Ford did not want to get ut. Ford wanted this advertisement out. They are happy it has been released, and they are denying that they did release it to appease it's critics.

You have to be kidding!

I cant stand Fords, but this is a brilliant ad!

Ok, so theres a bit of shock value intended, but so what? Whats life if you arent occasionally shocked?

It IS an AD, and no cats were harmed. so where is the harm in it??

Because it makes people think animal abuse is funny?

I wasn't shocked, I was sickened. :spew:

Is it for a stupid SUV? Becasue I hate stupid SUVs.

I believe it's for a little car.