The Ad of the Week: "Curiosity..." (Ford SportKa, UK)

"No publicity is bad publicity"

Back in 2003 the following commercial became one of the first "viral videos" ever. for the wrong reasons: WATCH

(WARNING: The following video contains sensitive material.)Also, oHB does not award, support or celebrate in any way the manner in which the message of the following video was handled. The solely purpose of this post is to study, analyze and debate the ethics of advertising towards sensitive issues.

CREDITS | Advertising Agency: Ogilvy & Mather - UK | Original Tittle: "Curiosity..." | London, UK | September 2003

Deny, deny, deny

Ford and Ogilvy & Mather, the advertising agency behind the advert, insist that the clip was never designed for public consumption.


"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."

Although Ford has denied leaking the advertisement to boost publicity for its car, the company has been trying to promote the SportKa's "bad boy" image  in order to sepatrate it from closely-related Ka model, which is generally seen as a vehicle driven by women.

And then: boom another leak?

(WARNING: The following video contains sensitive material.)Also, oHB does not award, support or celebrate in any way the manner in which the message of the following video was handled. The solely purpose of this post is to study, analyze and debate the ethics of advertising towards sensitive issues.