«Go woke, go broke.»
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So, after Gillette, Bud Light, and a few other companies, Jaguar decided to go woke ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLtFIrqhfng ):
Well, the reactions were coming quickly, e.g., on X and in the YouTube comments:
The whole approach is no wonder when you listen to a Gillette spokesman:
And at Jaguar, we’re passionate about our people, and we’re committed to fostering a diverse, inclusive, and unified culture that is representative not only of the people who use our products, but in a society in which we all live, a culture where our employees can bring their authentic selves to work. And we’re on a transformative journey of our own, driven by a belief in diversity, inclusion, creativity, policy, and most importantly, action. We’ve established over 15 DEI groups, such as PRIDE, who are here tonight in the back. (audience cheering) Thank you guys for coming. Women in Engineering and Neurodiversity Matters. We’ve launched major policy revisions, such as transitioning at work, to drive equity and support for our communities, embracing individuality as our superpower. (audience cheering) And only two weeks ago, we held our second global annual DEI summit, where we had over 10,000 employees from around the globe attend. And this journey is gonna continue for us at Jaguar, and we are gonna set the benchmark for our industry. (laughs) That’s right. So looking forward at Jaguar, creativity and individuality have been at the core of Jaguar’s brand since its inception, and we’re about to bring Jaguar back to something truly special. And so as Darren mentioned, in a couple of weeks, you will see an all new Jaguar turn up like never before. And we’re not just talking about new cars, we are talking about all new ways of thinking and embracing the full spectrum human potential and creativity.
Words that may sound good, but seriously, not only focusing on the «people who use our products» is a really bad idea. And while viewpoint diversity is crucial for creativity, it is not the same as «individuality» and «employees can bring their authentic selves to work» (not only because some people authentically are … not very nice people).
I would consider myself an individualist and I detest collectivism, but you need a shared vision, unity, teamwork and people who discuss different approaches and ideas honestly. A focus on personal characteristics is poison in this context, esp. when people confuse their «identity» with all people who have the same unchosen characteristics or want special treatment. For example, people who start sentences with «I as a …» (usually followed by woman/black/etc. pp.) act as if they speak for all those who share that characteristic. However, no group based on immutable characteristics is that homogeneous. People differ in views, in viewpoints, even if they share immutable characteristics like sex or skin color. Ignoring these differences is not conductive to creativity, it’s its end. It’s reduced to a single point of view.
Especially if true viewpoint diversity — which includes criticism of these campaigns — is not wanted. And that is usually the case with these «look at us we are so diverse» companies. They may be demographically diverse, but if you actually have a different point of view, you are not seen as contributing to diversity, you are simply seen as ignorant, stupid or evil.
An X user (sorry, forgot who it was) pointed out the huge contrast of Jaguar’s ad to the ad by Volvo ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQX-QXxwGvA ):
While Jaguar focuses on Woke, DIE, etc., Volvo goes for meaning and relatedness. What is really important in a person’s life.
Volvo even does skin-color-deep «diversity» much better, with the daughter falling in love with a black man (at 2:22). It’s just shown for a second, treated as natural and not standing out. Because it should not. The only people who care about the skin color of lovers are racists. They either condemn it or promote it, but both are racists. Both see skin color as essential or important. Volvo does neither, as it should be in a color-blind society. In contrast to companies such as Gillette (or Edeka, a German supermarket co-operatives group), Volvo also refrains from man-bashing (the husband seems competent and nice, the inattentive driver is a woman).
The whole ad is very well done, very emotional, including the ambiguous «Sometimes the moments that never happen matter the most». No wonder the YouTube comments are on a completely different level:
And personally, if you had asked me a few days ago whether I would rather drive a Jaguar or a Volvo, I’d gone for Jaguar without thinking twice (well, I heard they are a bitch to maintain, but still). Now, I wouldn’t touch a Jaguar with a ten-foot pole. But a Volvo … yeah, kudos. That ad was well done.