Folks need to calm down over the Jaguar re-brand
Jaguar allegedly broke the internet today, or they did according to a particular type of internet and media personality. Ahead of the launch of a design concept in a couple of weeks, the company released a spot called "Copy Nothing" to show off the new branding.
As you can see from the thumbnail, the folks in this ad represent a variety of different backgrounds. It's colourful, and bold and has done a fantastic job getting people to talk about a brand that isn't even making any cars at the moment. And not in a Tesla way (cough Roadster cough) but in a "we'll be right back" way.
I'm not saying it's not weird. But to think Jaguar doesn't know that is exceptionally dim.
Right-wing mouthpiece Sky News Australia has taken on overnight reaction from weaponised idiots like Nigel Farage – who has never been right about anything and just wants to break things – calling the new branding "woke."
Apparently, a capital G in the middle of lowercase letters is some kind of ideological rather than typographical statement. Now, you don't have to like it and I'm not telling you that you have to. But it's hardly woke. It's certainly a very new kind of branding, I understand some people's artistic objections to it, but I don't mind it.
The loudest voices tend to be reactionary halfwits like Caleb Bond, the aforementioned Nigel Farage and a bunch of flat-cap-wearing, Clarkson wannabes instantly declaring that Jaguar is finished. Geoff Buys Cars is one of those and I won't be featuring any of his videos in Weekend Watches now I know he's a deeply unpleasant individual.
I'm assuming these folks don't like the ad because there are people of colour in it and just to make sure, women of colour. So many pearls to clutch, so few fingers after that accident with the toaster.
One look at the comments of any of the videos is full of straight-up hate speech.
A number of hateful grifters have loudly proclaimed that Jaguar will lose its "traditional" base which is Brexity code for old white men with money. I know that's what it means because Farage and "Geoff" both said it and it was clear what they meant.
Setting aside the obvious misogyny and racism along with a healthy dose of transphobia (not sure why), they seem to think that a brandmark that looks a bit funny is somehow going to end the brand.
"You're supposed to be selling cars!" most of them whine. Yes, fellas, they're getting to that bit. December 2, mark it in your calendar.
If you're not across what's going on, Jaguar has basically run the whole business down for a complete reboot as a premium EV manufacturer. I'm not sure how that's going to go, but this has been in the works for a few years now and not, as some of the instant experts in the comments have suggested, "since today, of all days, with EV sales in steep decline." Which they aren't.
This ad is to get the new brand look out there. Some goose said they'd abandoned the iconic leaper which is pure idiocy, because the company has done no such thing.
The less hateful stuff is suggesting that the brand is abandoning its old customer base and Jaguar wholeheartedly agrees. They're expecting 10-15 percent of the old base to come along in Jaguar's new form. If that means dropping a bunch of tweed-wearing, Brexit-voting, ale-drinking blokes who shout "bitches!" to call their dogs, so be it.
In the end, a car company is made or broken by its product, with just a few exceptions. And all of those exceptions are low-volume manufacturers with rusted-on fans.
We don't know what Jaguar's new product line looks like and won't know for a while yet. The EV decision looks bold but it's the result of a long-term strategy not some ad salesman with a few spare models on the books. I'm guessing from this ad it's going to be quite a change from what we know.
Jaguar's near-nadir was when it was run by the kind of people who pandered to Jaguar's history rather than mining it and evolving. Ford did a horrendous job running Jaguar, turning out dreary nostalgia pieces like the X- and S-Types that nobody bought.
If Jaguar's management listened to these people, they'd go right back to this terrible time.
Jaguar has to reboot. It has to do something to stem the steep decline of its sports car and luxury sedan business. Going on as it had – no doubt in the minds of these people, "looking after its traditional base" – then we'd have Inspector Morse Mark II reboots and new E-Types galore that nobody would buy because, for good or ill, that's not what sells anymore.
The brand is headed upmarket, going electric and looking for a whole new customer base. Go for it, I reckon. This may be the last roll of the dice for Jaguar, but you can't say they're not going to go out without a bang.
