Jaguar gave into woke brigade with ‘rebrand' & it's hurt them big time – they've alienated loyal clients, expert says
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JAGUAR giving into the woke bridge with its controversial pink "rebrand" has hurt the company big time, a brand and culture expert has claimed.
The iconic British car manufacturer sparked outrage in November when it launched a glossy ad campaign with bright colours and catwalk models.
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Jaguar Land Rover's controversial rebrand, featuring bright colours, catwalk models, and a pink concept car, sparked a fierce backlash
Credit: Jaguar
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The Type 00, a striking, pink grand tourer, left the motoring world divided
Credit: PA
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Jaguar's revamped logo and badge courted criticism and ignited strong reactions from fans and critics alike
Soon after, it unveiled the bizarre Type 00 concept car - a large, pink grand tourer - as well as a much-maligned new logo and badge.
Now, months later, the company has seemingly turned its back on the agency that put it all together.
According to The Telegraph, the brand has launched a review of its advertising account - which is held by Accenture Song and its in-house agency Spark44 until mid-2026.
And Nick Ede, a brand and culture expert, has said the progressive ad campaign just didn't "feel right" with Jaguar.
He told The Sun: "We're talking about a car that costs over a £100,000 and it felt more like it was an advert for an ice cream or pop stars.
"That kind of car is all about bragging rights. It's about going 'I've got this amazing piece of machinery'.
"This brand has got a really great heritage for providing and producing fantastic pieces of engineering.
"Then this juxtaposition with this very kind of gregarious and very out there piece of advertising just didn't work.
"For Jaguar it didn't feel like it was the right thing to do."
Nick also described how the rebrand alienated both loyal clients and potential new EV customers.
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He said: "Jaguar is a heritage brand. You know you we've got heritage brands in the UK.
"Whether it's Rolls Royce, or whether it's something like a fashion brand like John Smedley, or whether it's Hackett, whether it's Fortman & Mason.
"All those brands we still recognise, even if they have little iterations where they change themselves to modernise - to change the logo a little bit or a different colour.
"But with this whole brand shift we didn't recognise anything about it.
END OF THE ROAD
By Ellie Doughty
THE firm is gearing up to go fully electric by axing all new car production - with company boss Rawdon Glover defending the move.
Managing director of Jaguar, Glover hit back at critics telling press it was a "strategic decision" and insisting it was "not a mistake".
He described the pivot as a "fire break", with no new Jags in UK dealerships from the end of November - for the first time since 1935.
Jaguar has been making its own internal combustion cars since then but has committed to going all-electric by 2025.
That's well ahead of the deadline for the 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel cars.
While many rivals have been producing a mix of EVs, hybrids and traditional cars, Jaguar is taking a more all-out approach.
The company recently stopped selling new cars and began only fulfilling orders that had already been taken.
Meaning customers now won't be able to order a new Jag until 2026 - when they will all be EVs.
Speaking to journalists Glover said: "It is a firebreak that will give customers and dealers the chance to reset as we move towards this new era for the brand."
Meanwhile a spokesperson for the luxury brand told Car Dealer: "Sales of current Jaguars in the UK have come to an end as we prepare to relaunch the Jaguar brand from December 2024."
Only the F-Pace model will see its run carried over into 2025, but will be discontinued at the end of the year.
The firm had already discontinued the XE, XF and F-Type models.
UK production of the E-Pace and I-Pace has also ceased, with global production shutting down by the end of the year.
A statement from the company read: "From November 2024, new Jaguar sales will come to an end ahead of our new brand reveal later this year and product launch in 2026.
"While we have now ceased allocation of our current generation of Jaguar vehicles, we do have a selection of models available to acquire on an Approved Pre-Owned basis through our UK retail network."
Glover previously told Autocar: "I think our products, and perhaps the next generation of the products, will make a big difference to how the whole sector is perceived.
"The rational barriers to EV ownership at the moment still remain range anxiety and infrastructure, and the need to be charging publicly.
"If we take each of those in turn, all our vehicles will have significant leverage."
The company is set to tease its future EV line - unveiling a future series in December set to go on sale in 2026.
Its headliner is a £100,000 GT model, which is promised to boast over 500 horsepower and a 435-mile range.
This will be followed up with a new SUV and a Bentley-rivalling limousine from 2028.
"So it felt like we were being introduced to a brand new brand, and for people who don't know anything about cars or first time car buyers.
"It just felt like everybody was alienated by this campaign."
The likes of Nigel Farage and even Elon Musk led the critics, with Farage describing it as "woke" and warned the automaker risked "going bust" due to its new design choice.
Musk turned the knife on X, simply asking Jaguar "Do you sell cars?"
Writing for The Sun last year, Julia Hartley-Brewer held up the move as another example of "a bid to shove 'progressive' and 'woke' ideology down our throats".
She said the ad itself looked like a "miserable box of Quality Street who've accidentally wandered on to the set of the Hunger Games".
When the 30-second ad was first unveiled, flashing up a number of slogans, including "live vivid", "delete ordinary" and "copy nothing", fans on social media weren't much kinder.
One Facebook user commented: "If I wasn't sure before, now I'm convinced Jaguar have completely lost the plot.
"This woke nonsense won't gain anything."
Another wrote: "Please tell me this is fake. Jaguar really has hit the self destruct button."
A spokesperson for Jaguar Land Rover said: "As a matter of policy JLR does not comment on any supplier arrangements."
They continued: "The reinvention of the Jaguar brand was planned to attract significant global attention and comment; we wanted to spark online debate and get people talking about us.
"The scale of the reaction has been unprecedented; this shows just how much of an emotional attachment Jaguar has with so many people.
"Accenture Song is our incumbent agency; contracted into 2026; They have been working with JLR and our House of Brands for over 4 years now and this has been a successful partnership."
Sun Motors has contacted Accenture Song for a comment.
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As Jaguar prepares for an all-electric future, its creative partnership with Accenture Song faces scrutiny amidst the fallout from the rebrand
Credit: Jaguar
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