Many conservatives have lamented major corporations leaning into 'woke' messaging and advertising campaigns in recent years, some of which have backfired pretty spectacularly. The 'Bud Light moment' felt like one of the major inflection points in our current culture wars, with other companies sitting up and paying attention to what can happen when a customer base is alienated and pushed too far. Eager to avoid 'Bud Lighting' themselves, we've seen something of a receding of the political tide in some quarters. I'm convinced that part of why Donald Trump won was a widespread backlash to the excesses of identity politics, 'intersectionality' and that whole program of leftism. People are tired of it, including many people who fit into various identity boxes prized by so-called 'progressives.'
In just the last few weeks, two car companies have introduced new ad campaigns, which seem to go in opposite directions. Jaguar's new..whatever this is was widely panned:
Copy nothing. #Jaguar pic.twitter.com/BfVhc3l09B
— Jaguar (@Jaguar) November 19, 2024
There's also this category of hypocrisy at play, which we've seen from global corporations many times before:
This is the version of the ad that @Jaguar created for the Middle Eastern market. Notice any differences? https://t.co/PRIS94vT2T pic.twitter.com/aIb4U6nnWA
— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) November 20, 2024
Jaguar's leader responded to the backlash by attacking the critics -- and the critics are firing right back:
No, @Jaguar, this isn’t about intolerance.
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) November 24, 2024
Have you considered that when people are shopping for a car, they’re typically focused on affordability, practicality, and safety—not diversity, equity, or inclusion?
Return to reality. pic.twitter.com/1fmnus5XJm
Competitor Volvo, by contrast, is earning plaudits and heart-strings emotional responses to this ad:
While Jaguar is pushing debauchery, Volvo just put out the most moving, pro-family, pro-life car ad of all time.
— Cabot Phillips (@cabot_phillips) November 21, 2024
This is the way.
pic.twitter.com/kgjGa2oCJa
A marketing executive at a different huge corporation summarized his thoughts on that ad like this:
Volvo posted a 3 min and 46 second ad on Instagram, shot by Hoyte Van Hoytema, the cinematographer of Interstellar and Oppenheimer. It goes against every single rule you can think about as a social lead. Length. Format. Over-produced. Every comment under the ad said it immediately put Volvo in their consideration set. It's f***ing fantastic.
When another brand manager responded by calling the Volvo spot the "best ad I've seen all year," the man responded, "I work for another brand and I am not even mad or jealous you said that. It's really special." Then we have this, from Apple, a company that has exuded lefty vibes for quite some time. This video, however, is apolitical, straightforward and moving:
I found this ad incredibly moving. I'm not an Apple user myself, outside of my phone (which honestly I hate using for anything except phone calls and texts), but Apple has genuinely made life better for families with these sorts of hardships. https://t.co/cHOScgjmGW
— Jeff Blehar is *BOX OFFICE POISON* (@EsotericCD) November 29, 2024
I'll leave you with Elon Musk's review of the ad: "This is cool."