The managing director of luxury car brand Jaguar has said he was disappointed by the "vile hatred and intolerance" in responses to a clip of company’s new advert, which with its vivid colors prompted fiercy debate online.
The car brand, with history spanning over 100 years posted a 30-second video on social media platform X on Tuesday which featured models posing in bright clothes but no vehicles.
The clip prompted a backlash online among some 120,000 comments, with X owner Elon Musk even responding: "Do you sell cars?"
Rawdon Glover, Jaguar managing director, told the Financial Times: "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. We need to re-establish our brand and at a completely different price point so we need to act differently."
"We don’t want to necessarily leave all of our customers behind. But we do need to attract a new customer base," he added.
He denied that the video was meant to be "woke," and said he was disappointed by the "vile hatred and intolerance" in comments about individuals in the clip.
The ad, titled "Copy Nothing" in the end also reveals what appears to be a new more straightforward logo of Jaguar, without its emblem cat that has adorned it for decades.
But while many critics pushed against the short clip, some opined it was a good strategy to capture attention, suggesting Jaguar was "what everyone was talking about right now."
In response to Musk’s comment on X, Jaguar said: "Yes. We’d love to show you. Join us for a cuppa in Miami on 2nd December?”
According to media reports, the company is set to unveil its "design vision concept" at Miami Art Week on Dec. 2.
Replying to another user who questioned where the cars were, the company said: "The story is unfolding. Stay tuned."
