Jaguar Exec Fired After Woke Rebrand Tanks Sales by 97 Percent

In a development that surprises absolutely no one outside the marketing department, Jaguar has reportedly fired its chief creative officer Gerry McGovern the man responsible for one of the most disastrous ad campaigns in recent corporate memory.

The firing comes after Jaguar’s sales in Europe plummeted by an astonishing 97.5%, just months after the launch of its much-maligned “Copy Nothing” campaign, which bizarrely featured no vehicles, just flamboyant individuals smashing things with sledgehammers and striking theatrical poses to vague slogans like “create exuberant” and “break molds.”

This was all supposed to signal Jaguar’s shift to an EV-only future. What it really signaled? A complete disconnect from reality, and from the customers who once admired the brand for its elegance, performance, and craftsmanship.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk summed up the sentiment perfectly on social media when he bluntly asked: “Do you sell cars?”

Instead of showing any actual vehicles or anything remotely related to driving the commercial leaned into abstract performance art and meaningless buzzwords, followed by a smug refusal to explain. Jaguar’s social team responded to criticism with equally cryptic messages like: “The story is unfolding,” and “Consider this the first brushstroke.”

The public wasn’t buying it literally.

Gerry McGovern, a 20-year company veteran, claimed that the campaign was inspired by Jaguar founder Sir William Lyons’ idea that a Jaguar should “copy nothing.” But there’s a difference between originality and absurdity, and consumers made their feelings known the old-fashioned way: by walking away.

Despite the campaign’s abysmal reception, Jaguar execs doubled down, with managing director Rawdon Glover whining to the Financial Times that the brand’s bold vision was buried in a “blaze of intolerance” on social media. He also insisted the ad wasn’t intended to be “woke” as if that made it any less insufferable.

There’s nothing brave or innovative about erasing the product from the product ad, nor is there anything inspiring about watching a legacy carmaker implode because its leadership became addicted to vague, ideology-driven nonsense instead of doing what actually works building and selling great cars.

The shake-up came shortly after the appointment of new CEO PB Balaji, following the departure of Adrian Mardell. Balaji, to his credit, appears to be cleaning house.

McGovern may have called his campaign “Exuberant Modernism.” What it really was, was a case study in how to destroy a brand in record time a masterclass in arrogance, abstraction, and alienation.

Let this be a warning to every other automaker flirting with identity-driven branding over product-driven excellence: Customers aren’t interested in performance art. They want performance vehicles.

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