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RSS FeedKIA: We Care About Girls EVERYWHERE, Not Just the U.S.
So now KIA is saying they knew nothing about their despicable kiddie-porn ad that won the Cannes Silver Lion Award. But check it out. The company is being VERY CAREFUL about the wording in their statements. According to this news report, the company says: “We can guarantee this advertisement has never and will never be used in any form in the United States.”
Notice that they don’t say anything about the rest of the world. It’s not clear whether whether Kia’s headquarters in Seoul contracts with Moma [the advertising firm that created the ads] and/or approved this ad.
So perhaps it’s true that KIA America wasn’t involved. Perhaps. But that doesn’t make it okay, does it? Given the global crisis in child prostitution and trafficking, it’s actually more offensive that KIA believes that selling cars via child pornography is no problem as long as they don’t do it in the U.S. What’s more, Moma is located in Sao Paulo, Brazil, a country that is said to have the worst child trafficking record in the world after Thailand. No wonder the agency thought the ad was “clever.”
Tell KIA we care about girls EVERYWHERE, not just in the U.S.
I felt when I read the KIA press release that KIA Amercia did sound offended by the ad and would not be using it…..AND I felt there were huge holes of doublespeak in the release that left room for the company to wiggle because it seems pretty clear that Moma was hired by KIA to run this ad somewhere in the world.
All of the world’s girls matter. All of them.
Let’s see them run these types of ad campaigns WITHOUT American dollars in their coffers. The international community should be outraged that Kia only believes Americans shouldn’t be subjected to these ads. So it’s okay elsewhere? Believe me, God doesn’t care what country you are in when you cause harm to His children. This COMPLETELY discredits the Cannes Silver Lion Award. Who would want this accolade now??
RE: Our parent company Kia Motors Corporation guarantees this ad has never and will never run globally either! We also agree this ad is highly inappropriate…ANYWHERE!
I am very glad to hear this and my readers will be too. Can you explain how the ad was entered at Cannes? What will happen to the agency?
Are you sure the ad was run and sanctioned by Kia? It’s possible the Kia US didn’t know about the ad. To me, it’s the agency who should be getting the wrath as well as the Cannes Festival for awarding it. This article here shows the agency may have just entered the award. Being in the business, I know this happens from time to time: http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread720871/pg1
Then, looking at the ad credits, there was a female supervisor on the account. Being an account person, she should have stood firm against the ad or at least had her name removed from the credits. http://www.canneslions.com/work/press/entry.cfm?entryid=18169&award=3
Well, now I’ve gotten a response FROM KIA that the ad will never run anywhere. Hopefully this goes for the other horrible Prince Charming version as well…..
Debbie: I’m curious why you think that the fact the supervisor was female is relevant. Surely we should expect men and women alike to oppose this kind of sexualization of young girls.
Thanks for mentioning that, Kristin. I meant to ask the same question but I got distracted by the fact that a Kia rep had responded to me!
I have to agree–regardless of gender, human beings should be offended and reject this sort of behavior. Why not just say: Buy a KIA today and along with free airbags we’ll throw a ten-year-old girl in the trunk.
With all due respect it isn’t just a female thing. No one who has kids, knows a kid, or ever was a kid should have let this see the light of day. Demand that the Cannes Lions withdraw the award to demonstrate they see (belatedly) what a terrible lapse in judgment this “ad” represents. http://www.canneslions.com
I just did a LOT of research on child sex trafficking for a couple of articles and it’s just appalling that the widespread use of ‘sexy’ kids is so common that we barely ever blink at the sight of it. It’s even more disturbing when kids interviewed on how they were brought into that ‘industry’ name media influence as one of the top reasons- not just being coerced but popular media influence that is global in nature. It’s weird to me that this ad won an award though. Sigh.
It does seem really bizarre. I mean, okay, whatever is the truth with Kia is whatever it is. But really, what the HELL is with those judges at Cannes?????
“It’s weird to me that this ad won an award though.”
It is not even a good ad. Really KIA ad agency?- this is the most clever way to show temperature controls in a car??
Debbie – As a Fortune 500 marketing client who has used most of the big multinational parent agencies throughout the course of my career, I can say with much confidence that any Ad agency on my roster who submitted a piece of work at Cannes which carried my logo, that implicated my brand in ANY way that was not first approved by me would be sacked as quick as they could collect their final performance bonus check with the big fat ZERO$$ beside it.
Kia is possibly on the precipice of some enormous community backlash and they very well might be forced to dump Moma. Big car clients willing to spend to build brand presence in wealthy nations aren’t that easy to come by. That sick, twisted creative team and the idiot suits who let this one through had better be sweating.
Just saw this: http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread720871/pg1
Apparently, Kia has no relationship with Moma at all, so may be entirely innocent in all this. I’m extremely confused however as the rules at Cannes are clear – the ad must have been commissioned and actually run to be eligible for entry. So if the above article is factually correct (this is yet to be outlined by any of the Kia statements that I’ve seen), then not only did Moma enter the ad unethically, Cannes did not bother checking with the client that it actually met the rules of eligibility.
Curiouser and Curiouser.
I smell a lawsuit.
Not true. Look at the MOMA website. http://www.momapropaganda.com.br/#/home
They are listed as a client and work for Kia is on their site, although it is of the “generic car advertising” variety. This ad was created to win an award at Cannes. It says a lot about the ad business today that it succeeded.
PLEASE NOTE! In response to the repulsive KIA ad and others like it, I started a group against the sexual exploitation of children in marketing. READ, SHARE, JOIN & get ALL your friends, family & their friends and family to join! OUR CHILDREN DESERVE TO BE PROTECTED!! I do NOT want another child to EVER experience the pain I did!! https://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_114127915344883
Coalition Against Pedophilic Imagery In Marketing/CAPIM
We are a group that has started in response to KIA specifically, and others, using child sexual abuse as a marketing tool. It is repulsive! The “ad” has been posted on the groups page. Please take a look and then join us in our fight against sexually exploiting children in marketing
Thank you, Janice!
I’m 99% certain that the folks at Kia North America are being straight about not having seen the ad. As for the Brazilian distributor, it may have been waved in front of his or her face with a wink and a nod. Advertising holds a much bigger place in the culture in Brazil than it does in the USA. It is seen as a form of pop art. And the Brazilian agencies are fanatical about winning international awards to bolster their status in the industry. Fake ads created solely for the purpose of winning at shows like Cannes are a hallmark of the Brazilian agency scene — generally the “edgier” the better, always produced in English for the benefit of the American and British judges. And of course those same judges think that’s what they’re there to reward, throwing off the shackles of the client and demonstating “pure creativity.” This is probably the most egregious recent example of that trend. One hopes that it will be a wake-up call, but frankly it happens pretty much every year. Perhaps the most effective remedy would be to force the Cannes show to move to, oh, let’s say Indianapolis for a few years. Suddenly those awards would look a lot less desirable.
Thank you so much for that context. I wonder how we could put some pressure on the Cannes judges or call them out. Is it possible to find out who they are?
My stepfather was a paedophile so I have seen firsthand the consequences on a family of just one person seeing children as sexual objects available for their personal gratification.
I have not seen the advert but I am continually appalled by the sexualisation of children in our world. As has already been stated, we have enough problems with people seeing children as sexual objects already, without the mainstream media buying into this sickening trade too.
It’s great that there are people speaking out all over the world against companies who pay for this to happen.
Lyra, Hearing about your experience breaks my heart and strengthens my resolve. I hope you feel supported by all of us who know it’s up to us to stop pedophilia and to call out companies on the persistent sexualization of children.
@Stacey – I totally agree with you that agencies shouldn’t act in this manner, however, it does happen. I personally have never been involved with a situation like that. I hope Moma does get fired if that’s what they did. And I too, smell a lawsuit. And I hope Cannes is held as responsible too. What were those judges thinking???
And as far as pointing out that the Account Sup is a woman, men do tend to think this kind of stuff is funny. After all, it’s men paying for these girls and objectifying them to begin with. They shouldn’t, but they do. Is it wrong, yes. Should men have the same responsibility, yes. Will women lead the charge though, yes. So that’s why I think she has extra responsibility. Had my creative team come up with something like that, it wouldn’t even make it to the comp stage. And if it did, I’d be fighting it at every step and would tell the client if done ‘underground’.
I can’t tell you how many of my male friends with daughters have NO interest in hearing about these issues. They openly prefer to take the “head in sand”, “doesn’t affect me or my daughter” approach. Very dangerous. Even my own husband won’t read about these issues. I do keep him informed through regular conversation and he’s now more aware and actively looking out for these things.
Interesting, Debbie. My experience has been once those guys (the ones who when I used to say I wrote about teenage girls, back in the Schoolgirls days, would say “heh-heh! My favorite subject” as if that was a) cute and b) original) became pretty darned ardent feminists once they had daughters. At least circumstantially with their own kid….
[...] is encouraging all people, parents and childless alike, to speak out against the sexualizing ads. Boys and girls matter everywhere, not just in the United States. Putting these ads up anywhere is a clear violation of children and their safety. (photo: [...]