Jaguar MD Rawdon Glover defends new ad against 'vile hatred' online: 'We shouldn’t turn up like...'

Jaguar MD Rawdon Glover said the comments regarding the models featured in the video was disappointing. (Image credit: Jaguar)

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.

Released on November 19, the now-viral promotional video of the British luxury car did not feature any vehicles but had models posing in brightly colored clothes and stray texts.

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."

Copy nothing. #Jaguar pic.twitter.com/BfVhc3l09B
Jaguar (@Jaguar) November 19, 2024

The video was meant to be the start of a promotional campaign to revive the ailing brand, which plans to go all-electric by next year. Jaguar planned to unveil its new electric GT model at the Miami Art Week in December.

Glover said that while the overall buzz of the new campaign had been “very positive”, “the level of vile hatred and intolerance” in the comments regarding the models featured in the video was disappointing.

Among the top critics of the ad online was the richest person in history, Elon Musk.

"Do you sell cars?" the X owner commented on Jaguar's post. Responding to it, the company wrote, "Yes. We'd love to show you. Join us for a cuppa in Miami on 2nd December? Warmest regards, Jaguar."