Woke Is Dead: Jaguar CEO Behind Disastrous Gay Rebrand Suddenly “Retires”

The incidents are not isolated; woke is dying everywhere and mainstream advertising is one of the surest litmus tests.  Though the culture war continues and requires eternal vigilance it’s safe to say that most Americans and even Europeans (save a tiny, shrill minority) are fed up with far-left deconstructionist insanity. 

One blaring example of woke suicide is Jaguar.  The car company, once marketed to affluent and successful men between 35-65 years of age, started to move away from older male buyers over a decade ago. In 2011 they launched a direct mail campaign targeting women, saying: 

“We’ve woken up to the fact that there is a huge audience of powerful, wealthy women that want to be treated respectfully. We don’t want to forget our predominantly male audience, but design and luxury are our selling points and there are a lot of wealthy, powerful, empowered women that appeals to.”  

In recent years they have attempted to pander to younger customers, believing (like most corporations) that diversity ideology was the key to the wallets of “design minded” Millennials and Gen Z.  Young people who “challenge the status quo” and embrace “woke rebellion”.  The rebrand was heralded with an ad featuring androgynous or trans models, stating “delete ordinary” and “break moulds”.  It was an utter disaster, leading to a 97% collapse in sales.

The problem with this strategy is that woke activists are a phantom when it comes to consumer leverage.  Most of them don’t have money and they spend much of their time on the internet using coordinated mob intimidation to make their movement appear far bigger than it really is.  Jaguar was trying to advertise a vehicle that retails for six-figures to a market of broke, mentally disturbed people living off their boomer parents. 

Activist groups and companies spent so much time and energy trying to make the public believe that woke was “the majority” they ended up tricking themselves.  They made the classic mistake of propagandists – They believed their own propaganda. 

JLR is dedicated to promoting inclusion, ensuring a safe working environment and policies for LGBTQ+ colleagues. Our CEO, Adrian Mardell joined colleagues at Birmingham PRIDE this weekend, where our PRIDE wrapped Jaguar F-TYPE Convertible and Defender featured in the parade. pic.twitter.com/ALCnf5p7oM

— JLR (@JLR_News) May 27, 2024

Adrian Mardell, the 64-year-old CEO of Jaguar Land Rover, is stepping down from his post just three years after taking on the role. He joined the company over three decades ago and was at the helm when it pushed the woke rebrand advert. 

Mardell jumped headfirst into woke marketing and pulled Jaguar down into the depths with him.  This included pushing “Gay Pride” at a time when LGBT virtue signaling was on the outs with the western public.  His sudden “retirement” is yet more evidence that woke messaging in marketing is being eradicated.

The CEO’s exit comes right before Jaguar is set to launch yet another rebrand and it’s likely that this time the car company will steer well clear of DEI and LGBT symbolism in their ads.  It is not clear if the CEO was forced out of his position because of his ultra-gay advertising flop, but corporations today are careful to avoid admitting when decisions based on progressive politics are a failure.  

Regardless, progressive companies have hit a wall they did not expect:  They did not consider the fact that they can bombard the public with propaganda but they can’t force the public to buy their products.  And, with government subsides drying up, they must now rely solely on consumers to keep them financially afloat.  Wokeness is over, and the free market wins again.