by Will Jones, Daily Sceptic:
The designer behind Jaguar’s controversial woke rebrand has reportedly been dismissed and “escorted from the office” just days after a new Chief Executive took over. The Telegraph has more.
Gerry McGovern, who was formerly Jaguar Land Rover’s (JLR) chief creative officer, was told he was being dismissed with immediate effect on Monday.
He was then escorted out of the office, according to reports, although details of his exit remain unclear.
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JLR, which is owned by Indian conglomerate Tata, declined to comment.
The turmoil comes just days after PB Balaji, the former finance boss of Tata Motors, succeeded Adrian Mardell as chief executive of JLR.
It brings an abrupt end to Mr McGovern’s 21-year career at the carmaker, where he masterminded a revamp of Land Rover’s Defender model and the company’s line-up of Range Rovers.
He was also the main creative force behind last year’s radical rebrand of Jaguar that aimed to shift the marque away from its traditional ‘Jag Man’ image towards ultra-wealthy customers.
It invited unflattering comparisons to the FAB 1 car driven by Lady Penelope in Thunderbirds and Barbie’s screaming pink convertible.
An advert for the rebrand, featuring a cast of androgynous-looking models but no cars, was also criticised for being too ‘woke’, with Nigel Farage and Donald Trump among those who attacked the campaign.
The backlash was dismissed as “vile hatred and intolerance” at the time by Rawdon Glover, the Managing Director of the Jaguar brand.
“We need to re-establish our brand and at a completely different price point so we need to act differently,” he told the Financial Times.
But Mr Mardell, the JLR boss who oversaw the rebrand strategy, announced his retirement in August before leaving in November.
JLR has insisted Mr Mardell’s retirement was unrelated to the Jaguar rebrand.
