In October of 2010, four young men set a Las Vegas casino record: the largest bet ever placed on a roulette wheel. The guys—Duncan Penn, Jonnie Penn, Ben Nemtin, and Dave Lingwood—were the stars of MTV’s hit reality show A Buried Life, which chronicled these lads on a cross-country odyssey wherein they tried to knock out their bucket list of “a hundred things to do before you die.” At the Golden Gate Casino, they bet $250,000 on black, breaking the previous record set by radio personality Howard Stern of $135,000. 

A bigger bet was placed last month by automaker Jaguar, which scrubbed its social media and premiered a tease for a revolutionary new company, essentially abandoning its century-old brand story. You could argue that Jaguar had to do something drastic. Since 2018, sales have plummeted from 180,000 to just 67,000 cars last year. In the rebranding, Jaguar announced that it will introduce no new models for two years. (In the interim, it will continue to market successful models like its F-Pace gasoline-powered SUV on its way to becoming an entirely-electric manufacturer by 2026.)

A short bit on the brand’s history—which started in 1922 with two motorcycle enthusiasts making sidecars for their bikes. What followed was an erratic upbringing that has suffered some bad missteps over the years, including its acquisition by Ford in 1990. Today, Jaguar is owned by Tata Motors Limited, a multinational Indian company based in Mumbai. Needless to say, with so many parents, Jaguar is entitled to some developmental disabilities, although it produced legendary models in the 1960s, including the Jaguar E-Type Coupe.   

You could also argue that Jaguar isn’t the only venerable British brand that has struggled in recent years to turn its heritage into present day sales growth. I’ve written previously about Burberry’s issues in the same realm. It could be that we’ve simply reached a point in post-colonial world history where the cachet of the Crown has ceased to spark consumer desire. At any rate, it appears that, with its rebrand, Jaguar has burned all bridges to the past and is now bear-hugging an uncertain future. 

From its social media tease, it couldn’t be clearer that this is no longer your Queen Mother’s Jaguar. In the video, a bright yellow elevator door opens to reveal a garishly-clad cast of gender-fluid actors who emerge onto a strange pink alien landscape. The copy reads “Live vivid”, “Delete ordinary”, “Break molds”, and “Copy nothing” as the cast performs highly-choreographed moves. It’s hard to imagine this being any more “in your face”—picture a mashup of Apple’s “1984” spot and RuPaul’s Drag Race. For traditionalists, however, the biggest shock is that nowhere in this piece do you see a car.

But let’s not judge too hastily. Jaguar was intentionally keeping its powder dry so it could reveal the new 2026 electric car model this week during Miami Art Week, the annual gathering that draws thousands of art collectors and buyers, art lovers, VIPs, and tourists. The “Type 00” cars were unveiled in a performance that included a bevy of supermodels, British actor Dominic Cooper, and Chance the Rapper. 

The concept cars are suitably mold-breaking—sleek futuristic lines and painted in frosty pink and blue. Striking to be sure, and also a little intimidating. There’s very little on these cars that’s “exposed”—like they were designed primarily to prevent the poisonous Martian atmosphere from seeping into the passenger compartment. If I saw one coming down the street toward me, I wouldn’t know whether to freeze in my tracks and gawk or run for my life. But who knows? The Jaguar Type 00 won’t roll out until 2026. A lot can change in two years.

In a way, I’m glad Jaguar did this, because it may settle once and for all if  “woke” marketing can succeed long-term. Whether their “Copy Nothing” tease reads as Utopian or dystopian depends largely on your personal politics—and you know I never go there. What seems smart on the surface is that Jaguar has given themselves a long runway. Two years is plenty of time to create demand and amass a sizable waiting list (and the necessary cash deposits) for those new Jag Type 00s. As to if the futuristic style of the cars will catch on, right now it’s anybody’s guess. (Witness the new Type 00’s oval steering wheel.) Like the Edsel, history has demonstrated that in the eyes of the car-buying public, the line between “cool” and “just plain weird” can be razor thin. Looking again at the E-Type Jag, now a classic, it must have seemed “mold-breaking” back in the 1960s.

I’m an old hat at this. Having seen a lot of teaser campaigns in my time, for now I will reserve judgment on Jaguar’s brave new world. You can tease all you want. The proof, however, is always in the (plum) pudding. 

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