Project Petrolhead

“Have you seen the new Jaguar logo?”

Yes, of course I have.

“They’ve completely killed what made the brand”

No, they’ve just added something new, they’ve not come to your house and torched your XF.

“They’ve gone Wo-”

Right, that’s enough. It’s been (at time of writing) 3 days since Jaguar unveiled a 30 second advert that seems to have whipped the internet up into a frenzy and I think people are completely missing one very simple fact. Car adverts are universally terrible. They have been since the fantastic Audi R8 advert got banned by the Advertising Standards Agency in 2013. For everyone saying that “The new ad has nothing to do with cars” well… yeah… that’s just what car adverts are nowadays. The current crop of Nissan adverts features a Qashqai driving vertically up the side of a skyscraper. Not exactly the intended use case, is it?

Unlike 99% of people who have used this (again) 30 second advert to fire off on Twitter (or whatever it’s called this week) about how Jaguar will “go woke, go broke”, I am actually familiar with both Jaguar as a company and up-to-date car news. As such, I am aware that a couple of days before the incident, Jaguar dropped a spy shot of their new car. If I were remarkably less informed, I would look at the new ad and guess that “those namby-pamby, limp-wristed, green tea drinkers will have built some polar bear friendly electric SUV” but, no. It’s a big executive-style, 3-box saloon. Just like the ones Jag have been building since the 1960s. Believe me when I say, Jaguar is still Jaguar.

To quickly dispel some of the myths I have seen online; This has absolutely nothing to do with them being owned by the Indian Tata Motors, Tata have been involved in JLR since 2008 and have overseen cars like the X351 XJ, the L405 Range Rover, the F-Type and the new Defender. No, they haven’t gotten rid of the famous “leaper” logo (the side-on silhouette of a Jaguar mid-pounce) it’s still a big part of the branding. Yes, Elon Musk, of course they still sell cars you absolute lemon.

For those who still feel the need to spout their opinions on a topic they would never normally be interested in, you must understand, that is EXACTLY THE POINT. This is marketing and you have successfully been marketed to. It’s designed purely to get people to engage with a brand that they would otherwise ignore. By firing up your camera and posting a 30-minute rant to YouTube about how you feel about a car company, you have done exactly what you were supposed to do.

The ad prominently features the phrase “Copy Nothing”. Believe it or not, that comes directly from a quote by Jaguar’s original founder Sir William Lyons. If you care, as you claim to, one iota about his legacy, I suggest taking his advice. Stop copying everyone else, stop parroting the viewpoints of online commentators (me included) and form your own opinion.

Rant over. Regularly scheduled programming will resume next week. I’m going for a drive in the XK to cool off.