After Jaguar released an ad featuring diverse and sexually ambiguous models, sparking widespread criticism, the company said the commercial was designed to be “bold,” not “woke.”
Managing director Rawdon Glover told the Financial Times that the campaign’s message was lost in a “blaze of intolerance.”
“If we play in the same way that everybody else does, we’ll just get drowned out. So we shouldn’t turn up like an auto brand,” Glover said. “We need to re-establish our brand and at a completely different price point so we need to act differently. We wanted to move away from traditional automotive stereotypes.”
While the overall reaction to the commercial was “very positive,” Glover said he was disappointed by the “level of vile hatred and intolerance” toward the individuals featured in the ad.
“This is not a depiction of how we think our future customers are,” Glover added. “We don’t want to necessarily leave all of our customers behind. But we do need to attract a new customer base.”
Jaguar’s campaign featured individuals in vibrant clothing. Phrases such as “create exuberant,” “line vivid,” “delete ordinary,” “break molds,” and “copy nothing” appear in the ad. There were no vehicles in the campaign.
The company’s rebrand comes as the manufacturer sold fewer than 67,000 cars worldwide last year, Newsweek reported.
“To bring back such a globally renowned brand we had to be fearless,” said Rawdon Glober, Jaguar’s managing director. “Jaguar was always at its best when challenging convention. That ethos is seen in our new brand identity today and will be further revealed over the coming months. This is a complete reset. Jaguar is transformed to reclaim its originality and inspire a new generation. I am excited for the world to finally see Jaguar.”
