British luxury carmaker Jaguar has found itself in the midst of a heated debate with its latest advertising campaign. Released across multiple social media platforms, this 30-second clip features models of diverse ages, genders, and races, accompanied by phrases like “live vivid”, “delete ordinary,” and “copy nothing”, set to a minimal techno soundtrack. It forms part of Jaguar's larger rebrand towards electric vehicles after years of sluggish sales. However, the advertisement has been met with a mix of confusion and mockery online.

Jaguar's Brand Image and the Campaign's Impact

Following the campaign's launch on Tuesday, many social media users expressed their dissatisfaction. Tech billionaire Elon Musk was among those who joined the fray, writing “Do you sell cars?” on his platform X. The advertisement has received over 90 million views and generated tens of thousands of comments. On Jaguar's YouTube channel, one user quipped that the “only thing brave about this ad is to leave the comments section on”. On the social media forum Reddit, one user wrote that the rebrand was “either marketing genius or brand suicide”.This amount of attention Jaguar has generated is significant. As one user posted, “This amount of attention Jaguar have generated themselves is huge no matter which social platform you use everyone is talking about Jaguar.” When they eventually reveal what they're working on, it's going to generate even more attention. We just hope it's something good.Some marketing experts believe that the tone of the advertisement feels out of place in the current political and cultural climate. Lulu Cheng Meservey, founder of the strategic communications firm Rostra, wrote on X, “This is like when movies used to come out in other countries a year after they were done showing in Hollywood. The vibe of this rebrand might have worked in 2021, but to drop this in late 2024 only emphasizes the reasons for Jaguar's brand decline in the first place: it's outdated and confusing.”While the corporate world was once eager to showcase its social justice credentials, many companies have now started to distance themselves from such causes. Anheuser-Busch InBev saw its North American sales plunge .4bn last year after a partnership with transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney. In the UK, calls to boycott the pharmacy chain Boots are underway over a Christmas advertisement featuring a Black Mrs Claus and LGBTQ elves.In the corporate boardroom, the future of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programmes is also being debated. Home improvement chain Lowe’s, tractor maker John Deere, motorcycle giant Harley-Davidson, Ford, and Brown Forman have all reversed their DEI policies over the past year. However, other companies like MasterCard, Cigna Health, and JPMorgan have said their DEI efforts will continue.For Jaguar, a brand long associated with wealthy older men, the biggest problem with the advertisement is that its target audience is unclear. As Cheng Meservey said on X, “If it's trying something new, it's unclear who it's for. If they're going to abandon the male audience, they should replace it with a more lucrative audience, and it's unclear who they're going for here. Vegans?”Jaguar did not respond to Al Jazeera's request for comment, but responded to its critics on X, saying that, “All will be revealed.”Holding company Jaguar Land Rover stopped selling new Jaguar models in the UK this week ahead of its planned transition to electric-only models in 2026. The company will invest hundreds of millions of pounds in its UK manufacturing plants as part of this relaunch, which was announced in 2021.