Elon Musk and others flock to the luxury car brand’s new ‘wake’ ad: ‘Bud Light 2.0’

British luxury car company Jaguar launched a radical revamp of its classic brand with a clever new ad that is raising eyebrows across the internet.

The 30-second spot begins with a bright yellow elevator opening to reveal about half a dozen androgynous models dressed in brightly colored monochromatic suits — but not a car in sight.

The ad then features the individual models, featuring their dramatic outfits accompanied by catchphrases such as “create abundance”, “live alive”, “erasing the ordinary”, “break the mold” and “copy nothing”. €

Critics are calling the failure “Bud Light 2.0” after a video resurfaced of the company’s director of brand strategy boasting about implementing DEI programs and policies at the company – such as gender transition at work.

Bud Light lost billions of dollars in market share last year after a disastrous and widely organized team-up with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

Speaking at an LGBTQ awards show last month, Jaguar’s head of brand strategy Santino Pietrosanti pulled back the curtain on changing the company’s culture – and boasted about implementing a smart workplace agenda.

We have created more than 15 DEI groups such as Pride, Women in Engineering and Neurodiversity Issues. We have launched major policy reviews such as ‘transition to work’ to drive equality and support for our communities by embracing individuality as our superpower,” he told a cheering audience at the Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards in London.

But not everyone is so impressed with the iconic company’s left turn.

The debut ad, which has more than 50 million views on X, had haters lining up to trash it.

“Do you sell cars?” Tesla and X CEO Elon Musk lied in an answer.

“This is the wrong time for this. I can understand the C suite being connected to this in 2022, but you’ve got the timing completely wrong. Bud Light 2.0,” columnist John Gabriel wrote.
Many users questioned the wisdom of Jaguar’s marketing team, and some even offered some solutions.

“Hi @Jaguar. I fixed your terrible ad. It took two minutes,” wrote one Twitter user, who attached a fake car ad featuring a scantily clad model standing next to a black luxury sedan.

“The damage this Jaguar marketing has done to a once iconic brand needs to be studied,” said another user. “Their social team is just making an absolute mess of the entire #Jaguar reputation capital built over decades. Don’t let dumb interns hijack brands.

Some users even said they were considering canceling their Jaguar orders in light of the controversial site.

The company has since held off on introducing any new models until 2026 as it prepares to relaunch as an all-electric brand – despite falling demand for such vehicles.