‘Woke’ and ‘outdated’ rebrand for mature classic car brand

A quirky new ad for car brand Jaguar has been widely mocked as “woke” and “outdated” by social media users.

The venerable British brand, now owned by Indian multinational Tata Group as part of Jaguar Land Rover Automotive, shared the 30-second clip on social media on Tuesday with the caption, “Copy nothing.”

Conspicuously absent from the ad – which features similar bold taglines such as “create abundance”, “live alive” and “erase the ordinary” is an actual Jaguar.

Instead, she opts for something more akin to a Paris fashion show, featuring a group of mixed-race, gender-ambiguous, brightly colored catwalk models crouching and posing in abstract groupings.

The clip has been viewed more than 6.6 million times on X, prompting reactions from many viewers.

“Do you sell cars?” Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote.

“Excessive. Will he sell cars? – asked another user.

“Umm, where are the cars in this ad? Is this about fashion? – said a third.

Jaguar’s X account replied: “Think of this as a statement of intent.”

Responding to a similar post, Jaguar wrote, “The story is unfolding. Stay tuned.”

“What the hell is this,” said another X user.

“The future,” Jaguar replied.

One X user said “All this ad says to me is don’t buy your car”, while another called it “the worst ad I’ve ever seen”.

Another added, “You don’t have to do this humiliation ritual anymore, you can just post a short video of a nice car and call it good.”

Conservative filmmaker Robby Starbuck said, “Fire your marketing team and take the smart stuff out.” It just made me want to sell my Jaguar and I don’t even own a Jaguar.

Influencer Collin Rugg wrote, “Oof. We’ve already turned the page on this one.”

Psychology professor Geoffrey Miller said, “People won’t buy your car based on memorable, old-fashioned, smart virtue signaling.” They’ll buy it if it’s better than a Tesla. It is not.

Virginia Republican state delegate Nick Freitas joked, “Well, we know where the Bud Light ad team went.”