Copy Everything

I've got a bone to pick. I hear you loud and clear, "Rich, when don't you have a bone to pick?" 

And that's totally fair. But if no one points out what's colossally misguided with this world how will it get any better? And so I take my job as righter of wrongs very seriously.

Moreover, while the Jaguar fiasco has gotten a little long in the large feline predator tooth, I have a special interest in the debate as I was, at one time, Group Creative Director on the account and feel I have a right to hold the current marketing genii to task.

More specifically, I take issue with the new tagline: Copy Nothing. 

I may be proven wrong when jaGUar shows us the new line up of vehicles sporting the Growler or the tamed version of The Leaper, but as far as the last 20 years go, jaGUar has COPIED Everything.

As any good lawyer knows, you can't make an assertion without having the proof. And on this I have substantial proof.

Take this 4 door sedan...

Now let's take a look at the Lexus ES 300...

Without the badge wear, you would not be able to tell the difference.

What about SUV's you say. Surely the cheeky lads in Coventry have broken new ground and fashioned an SUV unlike any other on the planet.

Here's the Lexus 350...

And here's the groundbreaking jaGUar F-Pace...

Uhhhhh.

Well they did use a fancy blue background. 

Ok, so I'm cherry picking. But I do enjoy winning an argument, though all the ample proof I've offered regarding Trump being an Idiot Savant of misogyny and feeblemindedness over all these years, was of no apparent use.

Let's take a look at the convertible jaGUar, a sports car where they have made a name for themselves.

And let's take look at the BMW's version (for variety's sake) of the two seated roadster.

Wait what?

When we were trying to breath new life into the brand (way back in 2002) we stumbled upon a maxim written by the head of design at Jaguar. "If you can't tell it's a Jaguar from 100 feet away, we have failed to do our job."

The commodification of the brand and the ill-conceived X-type -- now just $199/month, sorry, bad habit --has not done them a bit of good. 

I'll be shocked if this new marketing effort does anything to help.

Shocked, I tell you.