Luxury. Power. Beauty. The British Royals. James Bond. James Bond villains. Masculinity. These are the things that come to mind when one thinks of Jaguar, both the automaker and the magnificent, crepuscular cat for which it was named. Now, though, the car company is rebranding, ditching its former glory as the producer of the first mass-produced V-12 vehicle and instead embracing an all-electric future, though one would never be able to discern that from its new marketing campaign: “Copy Nothing.”
The spot, featuring a diverse and inclusive group of eight gender-bending Austin Powers villains, is quite a spectacle, with the text telling viewers to “create exuberant, live vivid, delete ordinary, break moulds [sic, since the Brits don’t know how to spell the language they created], copy nothing.” The cast is not exactly James Bond and Honey Ryder. It’s not even Le Chiffre. It doesn’t exude power, beauty, or luxury. It’s definitely not strong and masculine. It does, however, suggest that Jaguar will be there for those who want a Tesla but can’t bring themselves to buy one because of Elon Musk’s political transformation.
In other words, if you’re a “design minded,” “cash rich, time poor” shopper who’s in the market for an extremely expensive luxury EV that competes with Rolls-Royce and Bentley, the new Jaguar has you covered. That Jaguar’s U.K. brand director is “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” is certainly incidental and in no way connected to this bizarre rebrand.
Not that the company didn’t need to do something. Its cars haven’t been flying off the lots for several years now, with U.S. sales down 70 percent due to severe mismanagement of the brand. Maybe, just maybe, though, Jaguar should have learned from some other brands facing issues due to tone-deaf marketing campaigns aimed at turning off men, Bud Light and the Democrat Party being good examples.
The former is seeking to recover, using Shane Gillis in a new spot designed to appeal to normal men. The latter, not so much, even if some are calling for the party “to deemphasize Democrats’ affinity group culture and uplift a focus on economic opportunity. Which leads to another, crucial point: Stop saying things like ‘uplift.’”
We already know that Jaguar’s brand director is committed to affinity groups. The rebrand is also obviously aiming toward those who’ve experienced lucrative economic opportunities despite the state of the global economy. When it comes to uplifting, as opposed to promoting things, we’ll have to assume; but given the brand director’s apparent affinity for opaque dress shirts, it’s a safe assumption. Only someone totally ensconced in a bubble — one devoid of interactions with normal people and only versed in conversations with others from that milieu — would choose this moment to roll out that advertisement.
As the Democrats, Bud Light, and a host of other businesses have learned, people are tired of the crazy. Performative weirdness is over. That the members of the establishment continue to try and give it to us good and hard only highlights that they exist in a highly insular space, one in which creatives at the firm that created “Copy Nothing” keep their heads firmly planted.
It’s almost amazing to behold, especially as Porsche, no stranger to the EV market, just announced a new collaboration with hip-hop fashion brand Aimé Leon Dore. While the car is one of a kind, the partnership includes a limited-edition New Balance sneaker. New Balance kicks are dad shoes. They are normal. Incidentally, here’s what Porsche’s sales trend looks like.
But sure, Jaguar, copy nothing, except for failure. Get rid of the magnificent beast that once adorned your hoods and replace it with a monogram. Change your logo to whatever this is. Give up on internal combustion engines and attempt to rebuild yourself by capturing as much of the EV sales pie as you can, small as it is. Boldly foster a diverse, inclusive, and unified culture that represents the society in which you live, which, as one can presume from that ad, is largely inhabited by dime store versions of Andy Warhol, David Bowie, Iman, and the like.
Be like Nike. Be like Spinal Tap. Turn that more selective appeal up to 11. Tell people who want Teslas, but who can’t be seen in one, to live vividly and also to hand you a stack of cash. Copy nothing, especially not this fake ad from the movie “Crazy People.” Do anything but try to appeal to men. If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the past year, it’s that you can safely ignore them without facing any repercussions whatsoever.
