Harsh Goenka on Jaguar's new 'copy nothing' ad: 'What does that even mean?'

Harsh Goenka said Jaguar's new ad felt more like an art film than a car commercial.

RPG Group chairperson Harsh Goenka has joined the list of business leaders who have questioned Jaguar over its rebranding campaign. The British luxury carmaker had on November 19 released a promotional video which featured models in bright outfits but no vehicles.

"Jaguar’s new ad feels more like an art film than a car commercial—diverse actors, bold colors, and zero cars. ‘Copy nothing’—what does that even mean? Distinctive, sure. Effective? That’s the real question," Goenka wrote on X.

Jaguars new ad feels more like an art film than a car commercialdiverse actors, bold colors, and zero cars. Copy nothingwhat does that even mean? Distinctive, sure. Effective? Thats the real question. pic.twitter.com/nVjauUUVuQ
Harsh Goenka (@hvgoenka) November 23, 2024

Earlier tech billionaire Elon Musk had even roasted Jaguar over the ad. "Do you sell cars?" he had asked the company on X.

Meanwhile, Jaguar's managing director has defended its recent rebranding ad and has called out some of its online critics for spreading "vile hatred" and "intolerance". Rawdon Glover told the Financial Times that the campaign's intended message was lost "in a blaze of intolerance" and that it wasn't to be a "woke" statement, as some critics have claimed it to be.

Glover said that Jaguar wanted to stand out from other automakers with its new campaign. "If we play in the same way that everybody else does, we'll just get drowned out. So we shouldn't turn up like an auto brand," he told the publication. "We need to reestablish our brand and at a completely different price point, so we need to act differently. We wanted to move away from traditional automotive stereotypes."