Jaguar debuted an ad on X Tuesday that has brought widespread backlash for being woke and a turn-off for its upscale, male customers, Newsweek reports.
Under the slogan “Copy Nothing,” the 30-second video features androgynous models, including a man in a skirt, and no cars to promote its next generation of electric vehicles.
“Create exuberant,” “live vivid,” “delete ordinary,” and “break molds” are other slogans that appear alongside the models in neon-bright outfits.
“This just made me want to sell my Jaguar and I don’t even own a Jaguar,” joked conservative activist Robby Starbuck.
“This is so the wrong time for this,” wrote pop culture and politics columnist Jon Gabriel. “I can understand the C-suite being conned into this in 2022, but you have completely misread the moment. Bud Light 2.0.”
Elon Musk weighed in: “Do you sell cars?”
Jaguar responded to the Tesla CEO: “Yes. We’d love to show you. Join us for a cuppa in Miami on 2nd December? Warmest regards, Jaguar.” That is when, at Miami Art Week, Jaguar plans to debut its self-described “exuberant modernism creative philosophy.”
“This dramatic, unmistakable and unexpected expression of what it means to Copy Nothing will be a preview of the fearless approach to come from Jaguar,” the car manufacturer said in a press release. “Jaguar’s presence in Miami will establish its advocacy for artistic expression, in all forms.”
Jaguar is pivoting its offerings and lineup from wealthy, male car drivers to “design-minded” and “cash rich, time poor” people, although it has not revealed specifics on what this new demographic is.
“We assume that 10% to 15% of our current Jaguar customers will follow us, so relatively few,” Jaguar Managing Director Rawdon Glover said in an interview with Motor1 in July.
Santini Pietrosanti, head of brand strategy, highlighted Jaguar’s diversity, equity and inclusion programs at the Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards for LGBTQ+ icons in London in October:
“At Jaguar, we are passionate about our people, and we are committed to fostering a diverse, inclusive, and unified culture that is representative not only of the people who use our products, but in a society in which we all live, a culture in which our employees can bring their authentic selves to work.
“And we are on a transformational journey of our own, driven by a belief in diversity, inclusion, creativity, policy, and most importantly, action,” Pietrosanti continued. “We’ve established over 15 DEI groups.”
Lulu Cheng Meservey, co-founder of Rostra PR, called the rebranding and marketing shift “disastrous.” Instead, Meservey said, Jaguar should “highlight innovation and engineering.”
“It is possible a marketing exec read too many think pieces about how Millennials shop based on values and forgot that people want cars that are really well built,” she continued.
Forsaking its traditional male audience is a big mistake,” Meservey asserted.
“If they’re going to abandon the male audience, they should replace it with a more lucrative audience, and it’s unclear who they’re going for here. Vegans?”
Last year, Bud Light suffered a massive boycott and lost its decades-long position as America’s best-selling beer after it partnered with transgender influencer and activist Dylan Mulvaney. Just in the first two months after ill-fated Bud Light campaign debuted, the stock of Bud Light parent Anheuser-Busch lost a walloping $27 billion in market value.
Jaguar has been hit with lagging sales in recent years, with fewer than 67,000 cars sold worldwide in 2023. There are currently only 122 Jaguar dealerships in the U.S., down from a peak of 200, according to Car and Driver magazine.
Lee Barney ✉
Lee Barney, Newsmax’s financial editor, has been a financial journalist for 30 years, covering the economy, retirement planning, investing and financial technology.
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