You’ve probably seen it by now. Or maybe you just saw the memes. It’s the 30-second clip that looked less like a car ad and more like a high-fashion fever dream. It featured people in neon outfits, oversized sunglasses, and a sledgehammer—but absolutely zero cars. This was the jaguar new logo commercial, and honestly, it might be the balliest or most desperate marketing move in modern history.
Jaguar didn't just tweak a font. They burned the house down.
The Commercial That Deleted the Car
The ad, titled "Copy Nothing," dropped in late 2024 and instantly set the internet on fire. Not the "good" kind of fire where everyone wants to buy your product. More like the kind where people are standing on the sidewalk wondering why the building is melting.
The visuals are intentionally jarring. You have models strutting through surreal landscapes with slogans like "Delete Ordinary" and "Live Vivid" flashing across the screen. It feels like a perfume ad directed by someone who hates engines. When it finally ends, you don't see the iconic leaping cat. Instead, you get a minimalist wordmark: JaGUar.
It’s weird. It’s colorful. And for a brand that used to be defined by wood grain and the roar of a V8, it was a total shock to the system.
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Why the Jaguar New Logo Commercial Actually Matters
Most people think Jaguar just lost its mind. But if you look at the business reality, they didn't have much left to lose. Before this rebrand, Jaguar was basically invisible. Sales were tanking. The average buyer was getting older, and the brand was stuck in a "stuffy British heritage" loop that wasn't competing with Porsche or Tesla.
Chief Creative Officer Gerry McGovern and Managing Director Rawdon Glover knew they needed a hard reset. They didn't want a "new version" of the old Jaguar. They wanted a brand that could justify a $100,000+ price tag for a future line of ultra-luxury electric vehicles (EVs).
- The "Copy Nothing" Mantra: This wasn't a random slogan. It’s actually a quote from the brand's founder, Sir William Lyons. He used to say a Jaguar should be a "copy of nothing."
- The Audience Shift: They aren't trying to sell cars to the guy who loves his 2005 XJ anymore. They’re chasing the "Exuberant Modernism" crowd—young, wealthy, and design-obsessed.
- The Logo Change: The "Leaper" isn't gone, but it’s been demoted to a graphic element. The new primary logo uses a mix of upper and lower-case letters that look like they belong on a boutique hotel in Tokyo.
The Backlash Was Nuclear
It’s rare to see a corporate rebranding get roasted by everyone from Elon Musk to your local mechanic. Musk famously hopped on X (formerly Twitter) to ask, "Do you sell cars?"
Jaguar’s response? "Yes, we’d love to show you."
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The criticism basically falls into two camps. First, you have the "anti-woke" crowd who felt the diverse, androgynous models in the ad were pushing a social agenda. Then you have the car enthusiasts who felt the brand's 90-year history was being flushed down the toilet for the sake of being "edgy."
Was It a Mistake?
Data from iSpot.tv actually ranked the "Copy Nothing" ad among the bottom 250 ads ever tested for consumer favorability. That’s out of 160,000 ads. Most people didn't even realize it was for a car company until the very end.
But here’s the thing: Jaguar achieved exactly what they wanted.
Before that commercial, when was the last time you talked about Jaguar? Exactly. They traded "polite indifference" for "universal conversation." In the luxury world, being hated is often better than being forgotten.
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Looking Beyond the Neon
If you can get past the sledgehammers and the bright pink outfits, there is a real strategy here. Jaguar is pausing production on its current internal combustion engine (ICE) cars. They are effectively "going dark" for a year to rebuild.
The jaguar new logo commercial was the opening bell for the Type 00, a concept EV that they eventually showed off at Miami Art Week. The car itself is long, low, and incredibly dramatic. It actually looks like a Jaguar, even if the ad didn't.
What You Should Take Away
If you're a business owner or a marketer, this whole saga is a masterclass in risk. Most brands are terrified of polarizing their audience. Jaguar leaned into it. They accepted that they might lose 80% of their current fans if it meant they could grab 5% of a new, wealthier market.
- Audit your assets: Jaguar realized the "leaping cat" was iconic but wasn't selling cars. Sometimes your most famous asset is actually an anchor holding you back.
- Context is everything: Launching a car brand at an art fair instead of an auto show tells you everything you need to know about who they want to be.
- Brace for the noise: If you do something radical, the internet will scream. You have to decide if you’re listening to the noise or looking at the long-term vision.
Jaguar is betting the farm that by 2030, we won't remember the "perfume ad" controversy. We'll just see them as a high-end EV brand that isn't Tesla. It’s a massive gamble. But in an industry where everyone is starting to look the same, maybe "Copy Nothing" is the only way to survive.
To see how this identity translates to actual metal, look up the Type 00 concept car. It bridges the gap between the weird commercial and the brand's performance roots. If you're following the business side, keep an eye on JLR's quarterly sales reports through 2026—that's when we'll know if the "Exuberant Modernism" gamble actually paid the bills.