Ford ads featuring Berlusconi, Paris Hilton show women bound and gagged in trunk

Published March 24, 2013

FoxNews.com

• 

  Former Italian Premier and leader of the center-right coalition Silvio Berlusconi speaks in Rome, Saturday, March 23, 2013. Berlusconi presided over a massive rally in Rome's downtown Piazza del Popolo and said there was "no alternative" to new elections if center-left leader Bersani can't form a strong government. Bersani's forces finished first in the Feb. 24-25 voting and Italy's president on Friday asked him to try to form a government. He has ruled out a coalition with Berlusconi's second-place People of Freedom Party but said Saturday negotiations were possible. Sign reads "Everybody with Silvio". (AP Photo/Roberto Monaldo, Lapresse)

Print advertisements created in India for the Ford Figo depict women bound and gagged in the trunk of vehicles driven by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and pop culture princess Paris Hilton.

According to a Business Insider report, one of the ads, to seemingly showcase the car’s ample trunk space, features Berlusconi in the front seat, his fingers posed in the universal victory sign, with crying women bound in the trunk. The tag line reads: “Leave your worries behind with Figo’s extra-large boot.”

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ADS

The ads come soon after Berlusconi was found guilty of breach of confidentiality in a wiretap case and as he awaits trial in a sex-for-hire case.

Another Ford Figo ad shows a winking Paris Hilton driving a Figo with her reality-show rivals, the Kardashian sisters, tied up in the trunk.

The ads, created by JWT India, were not approved by Ford, according to Business Insider. The agency made the spot and posted it to website Ads of the World without approval.

WPP Group, parent company of JWT, and Ford emailed an apology to Business Insider:

“We deeply regret this incident and agree with our agency partners that it should have never happened. The posters are contrary to the standards of professionalism and decency within Ford and our agency partners. Together with our partners, we are reviewing approval and oversight processes to help ensure nothing like this ever happens again.”

Click for more from Business Insider

View the original article here

Teens locked woman, 89, in car trunk for 2 days, police say

DOVER, Del. –  Delaware State Police have charged five teenagers in the carjacking and kidnapping of an 89-year-old Lincoln woman.

Police said Thursday that Margaret E. Smith was locked in the trunk of her car for almost two days before being dumped at a cemetery east of Seaford, where she was found Wednesday morning wandering around the graves. Smith was taken to Nanticoke Memorial Hospital, where she was treated and released.

Police said that as Smith was being interviewed by investigators in Georgetown on Wednesday evening, troopers spotted her car being driven in Bridgeville and took the teenagers into custody after running a license check and learning that the car had been stolen.

Two girls, ages 14 and 15, were detained on $122,000 cash bonds after being charged with robbery, carjacking, kidnapping and conspiracy.

Two boys, both age 17, were being held on $27,000 secured bond after being charged with kidnapping, conspiracy and receiving stolen property.

A 15-year-old girl who was a passenger in the stolen car, which was being driven by the 14-year-old, was charged with receiving stolen property and conspiracy and was being held on $2,000 secured bond.

Authorities had issued a Gold Alert for Smith after relatives reported her missing Tuesday night. She had last been seen getting into her car around 11 a.m. that day.

Investigators said Smith's ordeal began after two girls approached her at the Chicken Man convenience store in Milford and asked for a ride to the Lincoln area.

Smith agreed to give the girls a ride, but when they arrived at a residence, they demanded her car keys, then forced her into the trunk of the car before driving off. They later took more than $500 from her coat pocket.

At some point, the two girls picked up the 17-year-old boys and showed them that Smith was in the trunk.

After spending almost two days trapped in the trunk, Smith was dropped off at the cemetery, police said.

View the original article here