New Jaguar promotional ad received backlash online after it was posted by the brand’s X account. (Jaguar via YouTube)
Jaguar is facing backlash after announcing a rebrand of its luxury car company on Tuesday, with a longtime customer worrying the brand is headed in a “sad” and “troubling” direction.
The British car brand turned heads on Tuesday with its release of a new ad, which featured a reimagined logo under the slogan “Copy Nothing.”
The ad featured androgynous models in brightly colored, over-the-top outfits, including one man wearing a dress, along with other slogans such as “create exuberant,” “live vivid,” “delete ordinary” and “break moulds.”
The video blew up on social media, drawing tens of thousands of comments and nearly 47 million views in 24 hours.
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Jaguar promotional photo for “Copy Nothing” rebrand. (Jaguar)
Tesla CEO Elon Musk and other popular commentators weighed in, mocking the company for not featuring any cars in the 30-second spot, while others accused the brand of going the way of “Bud Light.”
Nic Carter, a Miami-based general partner at Castle Island Ventures and lifelong Jaguar customer, told Fox News Digital that he was “baffled” by the ad and the car company’s decision to rebrand.
“I was baffled. I mean, I think the entire brand is iconic, and I don’t think a rebrand is warranted,” he said.
“The ad had nothing to do with cars. I mean, it seemed like a rehash of ‘woke’ themes that have dominated the discourse for the last decade, which are increasingly out of fashion. So it just seemed very dated, honestly. It felt like an ad we might have seen in 2015 for a makeup company or something. It doesn’t at all convey the themes that have anything to do with high-performance sports cars, in my opinion,” he continued.
Bud Light faced intense backlash last year from longtime customers after it partnered with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney for an ad campaign. (Instagram/Fox News / Fox News)
Carter said the only two vehicles he’s owned have been Jaguars. He currently drives a Jaguar F-Type R convertible.
However, he finds the company’s new direction, which includes a commitment to have an all-electric vehicle line-up by 2025, “troubling.”
“Jaguar has been going in a troubling direction for a while now. You know, moving away from internal combustion is baffling… because the whole point of a Jaguar is, the crackles and the pops from the engines,” he said. “And this [ad] is just confirmation that they’re on the wrong track.”
“I think the election was a repudiation of this wokeness that has been pervasive in society. And it seems like they are swimming against the current and trying to sell cars with an [ad showing] a violation of gender norms and such concepts, really makes no sense if you think about who is the audience for a sports car. It’s utterly baffling,” he told Fox News Digital.
One Longtime Jaguar customer said the brand’s new ad seemed to be doubling down on the “woke” politics that Americans rejected this election. ( Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images / Getty Images)
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The Jaguar enthusiast doesn’t see himself buying any more vehicles from the brand in the future.
“I feel a little embarrassed driving my F-type around now,” he quipped. “I wouldn’t buy another Jag anyway, unfortunately, because they’re moving away from internal combustion. So I don’t think electric would even be the same.”
“What I was hoping for was them to bring back the classic E-Type. You know, a modern revamp of the E-type would be great. But they’re discontinuing the F-Type line and then the electric [push]. The whole thing is going in a very sad direction,” he continued.
FILE PHOTO: A Jaguar I-Pace electric vehicle (EV) is seen displayed at the Jaguar Land Rover booth during a media day for the Auto Shanghai show in Shanghai, China, April 19, 2021. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo (REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo / Reuters Photos)
Jaguar defended the ad in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“Our brand relaunch for Jaguar is a bold and imaginative reinvention and, as expected, it has attracted attention and debate. As proud custodians at such a remarkable point in Jaguar’s history, we have preserved iconic symbols while taking a dramatic leap forward. The brand reveal is only the first step in this exciting new era, and we look forward to sharing more on Jaguar’s transformation in the coming days and weeks.”
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Fox News’ Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.