As the mockery of Jaguar’s massive brand relaunch continues, one company exec is speaking out against the “intolerance” from the public.
Managing director Rawdon Glover said in a recent interview with the Financial Times that the campaign messaging was drowned out in “a blaze of intolerance” on social media. Glover also claimed that the colorful new ad was not meant to be “woke.”
“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 told the outlet.
“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.”
The Jaguar exec said there have been “very positive” reactions to the campaign but that he’s been dismayed by “the level of vile hatred and intolerance” to the viral ad.
Glover added that the rebrand was done in part to attract new customers. “This is not a depiction of how we think our future customers are,” he said. “We don’t want to necessarily leave all of our customers behind. But we do need to attract a new customer base.”
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A senior advertising executive who previously worked with the brand agreed with the criticism, telling the outlet, “You can destroy a brand in 30 seconds that took a lifetime to build. Strong brands reinvent themselves but always remain true to the core of their DNA. For luxury brands in particular, authenticity is key and this fails the test.”
The new ad campaign includes a commercial of people dressed in vibrant, outlandish outfits. The characters can be seen grabbing sledgehammers, painting over the camera lens, and striking poses as the music plays. It also debuts the new logo, which strips away personality and removes the iconic jaguar graphic.
The entire campaign has been derided and mocked on social media, especially since the commercial does not feature vehicles.
Tesla founder Elon Musk responded to the ad by writing, “Do you sell cars?”
The official webpage says the brand will now be built upon “exuberant modernism.” A new concept car will debut at Miami Art Week the week of December 2.