Among native Amazonian tribes, the jaguar is known for its fierceness, and its surprise. Life and death in the jungle are a pounce apart. ‘Jaguar’ is the anglicised form of the Tupi phrase ‘he who kills with one leap’.

This sinewy power was the founding inspiration of Jaguar in 1922. It is now part of Britain’s largest automotive manufacturer, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), and is located some distance from the nearest rainforest. In Coventry.

Alas, all’s not well in England’s green and pleasant West Midlands. Blest with a storied and soulful British past, the once-exclusive Jag has seen been dragging troubles for years. The brand has struggled to claim its niche of stiff-upper-lip luxury, and ended up flailing in a competitive ‘affordable luxury’ cul de sac.

Because Jaguar had lost its way, first Ford (1999), and now Tata (2008), have acquired it, willing its majesty to bloom once more.

This is the story of Jaguar’s quest to reclaim its soul.

***

Under Tata ownership, Jaguar made the strategic decision to produce only high-end electric vehicles (EVs), from 2026, at double the price of its current vehicles.

This is a momentous call, and not an obvious win. Jaguar had famously hyped the throaty growl of its fossil fuel exhaust, part of its ‘bad boy’ appeal; and more recent consumer reports suggest EVs are losing traction.

In order to give clean slate to the 2026 EV reset, Jaguar chose to end all production of internal combustion cars during 2024, thus creating a ‘firewall’ between its past and future.

Having wiped their Instagram of all prior content, Jaguar posted a 30” brand video last Tuesday.

The rather low-budget treatment is a simple teaser, and was likely intended to whisper to the faithful that the big product news would be revealed in Miami in December 2024.

Holy shit. It blew up!

The video has been viewed a gazillion times, and damn near everyone has a point of view. Most of them negative. The commentary has been saturating, amusing, serious, and exciting to observe.

Paradoxically, the brand is failing with phenomenal success.

***

Much of the anarchic blowback to the 30” brand-tease centres around three themes. Let me address them in sequence.

(1) that the advert fails to show a car, and acts nothing like a car ad

We do not invite consumers to write adverts, and for good reason. Many loved ads do not feature a product demonstration. If the story told were loved, the absence of a car would not matter. In any case, not featuring a car makes some sense, as this is a teaser for Jaguar’s December reveal.

The new tone Jaguar depicts in the video – sullen, individualistic, unsexy – seems to gnaw at the soul of car lovers. They have a stake in the brand, and dislike being abandoned. ‘It’s like being cheated on by your girlfriend’ said one YouTuber, soulfully.

Most consumers feel they have not been invited into this journey of change. Indeed, Jaguar has publicly stated that it has little interest in its legacy clientèle. And because it insists on advertising its strategy, the video more or less says so too.

(2) that Jaguar is foisting a DEI ideology (diversity, equity, inclusion) on people, which feels patronising, alienating, and politically charged

Can it be true that New Jaguar wishes to foist a progressive ideology on car lovers? I think not. Rather it has borrowed Queer-coded messaging to dramatise that it will now enter an electric, and eclectic new chapter. But the invitation seems exclusionary. For consumers, it is impolite of Jaguar to throw a party, only to disinvite its oldest and most loyal friends.

It is important to note how riled consumers become when they believe they’re being force-fed DEI in advertising. They speak to Jaguar living a ‘Bud Lite’ moment. In 2023, trans woman Dylan Mulvaney entered a tiny sponsorship deal with Bud Lite, which led to a huge boycott of the brand by its core consumers. Substantiating the charge, the Bud Lite Brand Director was ‘caught’ on a podcast, dismissing her loyal drinkers (fratty, out of touch), and asserting that the brand must broaden or die.

If loyal consumers organise against you, business gets tough. The brand dropped from a no.1 to a No.3 position in the USA. Over a billion dollars in sales were lost. It is notable that Anheuser Busch listened, learnt, and are on the long road to rebuilding empathy with their consumers.

Brands do not shape the culture; they follow it. Mulvaney is a reminder that content intended for one lane can spontaneously be shared in all lanes. Virality is the opposite of targeting.

The closer analogy still is New Coke. Remember? That time in 1985 when The Coca-Cola Company decided they could perfect the recipe of Original Coke, in order to win share from Pepsi. It seemed that people were more loyal to Original Coke than Coke itself. Similarly, consumers seem to believe in the Jaguar brand more than Jaguar itself. It just seems wrong!

(3) that the brand has turned its back on its rich, storied, British heritage.

The aching heart of what’s missing in the world’s most famous video teaser is a link with Jaguar’s storied, noble, British past. As it stands, the video could be a message from any brand. But people love Jaguar, and want to share in a message that only Jaguar can express.

Ditching the past is a strategic choice on behalf of the client, echoed in the erasure of Jaguar’s Instagram history. Is this necessary? Indeed, is it even possible? Can you really bring your storytelling to a different planet, demote your leaping cat icon, erase your famous growler badge, act like you want to be Gucci – and still lay claim to the name and status of Jaguar?

It seems to me that Jaguar erred by advertising the strategy. And because its briefs are showing, the world sees fit to roast it.

***

The cacophony of pushback has rattled the Jaguar brass into defence.

A senior JLR executive describes the commentary as having an undercurrent of ‘intolerance’ and ‘hate’; another, in a leaked JLR internal email, issued veiled legal threats to JLR employees who level inappropriate criticism at their colleagues.

I’m disappointed by such a response.

When we reposition the fuck out of iconic brands, we should do so with robust gusto. Blowback is part of the challenge, and much of the fun. Change shocks, and brand leadership is about managing the change with aplomb.

If Jaguar believes in what it’s doing, let them own it, and champion it. To convert the story into one of victimhood and personal insult misses the opportunity. It’s also tedious and wrong.

But this story is not yet done.

I will be watching a live feed from Miami, on December 2nd, when the next instalment of the Jaguar Journals will be aired. It is then that the concept car will be revealed.

The final outcome is not yet assured. The brand has both pissed off and engaged the world, which is preferable to making zero impact, by spouting insipid sameness.

These are dodgy straits, difficult but not impossible to navigate.

Jaguar needs immediately to reclaim its stealth, confidence and soul.

Triumph and disaster are each a leap away.