Recent comments from a head marketing director at Jaguar are now drawing attention after the brand launched a polarizing rebrand of the luxury car company this week.
During an appearance at the Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards last month, Santino Pietrosanti, UK Brand Director at Jaguar Land Rover, teased the upcoming rebrand for the company as part of its own “transformative journey.”
“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, which are here tonight, and Women in Engineering and Neurodiversity Matters,” Pietrosanti said.
“We’ve launched major policy revisions such as transitioning at work to drive equity and support for our communities, embracing individuality as our superpower,” he continued.
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Pietrosanti, who joined the company’s leadership team as UK Brand Director earlier this year, said Jaguar’s “journey” to embracing DEI would “continue” for the car company and it would “set the benchmark” for the auto industry.
“We’re not just talking about new cars. We are talking about all new ways of thinking and embracing the full spectrum of human potential and creativity. Because Jaguar has always stood for fearless originality, striving to be a copy of nothing. And we believe that every person has the potential to be something unique, something original, and that’s what makes us strong,” he said.
“At Jaguar we proudly stand with the LGBTQ+ community because we know that originality and creativity thrives in spaces where people are free to be themselves,” he continued.
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Pietrosanti’s comments are in the limelight once again, after the company faced intense backlash this week after announcing its new logo and slogan in a promotional video.
The ad featured androgynous models in brightly colored, over-the-top outfits, including one man wearing a dress, along with other slogans such as “create exuberant,” “live vivid,” “delete ordinary” and “break moulds.”
The video blew up on social media, drawing tens of thousands of comments and nearly 47 million views in 24 hours.
On Wednesday, the company also drew attention after it teased an image of its design concept which will be revealed in Miami on Dec 2.
Jaguar told Fox News Digital that Pietrosanti “did not personally orchestrate the new Jaguar brand campaign, nor have a role in its creative inception, as some online sources have speculated.”
“Santino is a valuable leader and voice within Jaguar and JLR for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and it is unfortunate that many have chosen to misconstrue his role and experience. Jaguar believes in a diverse, inclusive and unified culture. This includes fostering an environment in which people are valued as their authentic selves, where diverse perspectives are sought and listened to and where everyone is treated with respect,” the company said in a statement.
According to Jaguar’s website, the brand launched it’s “transitioning at work” guidelines for transgender employees in 2019.
On Jaguar’s DEI & Strategy” website, Jaguar’s head of DEI, Claire Parker writes, “We are committed to fostering a diverse, inclusive and unified culture representative of our customers and the society in which we live; a culture where every one of our employees can bring their authentic self to work and feel empowered to reach their full potential.”
Jaguar previously put out a statement defending the company’s new vision.
“Our brand relaunch for Jaguar is a bold and imaginative reinvention and as expected it has attracted attention and debate. As proud custodians at such a remarkable point in Jaguar’s history we have preserved iconic symbols while taking a dramatic leap forward. The brand reveal is only the first step in this exciting new era and we look forward to sharing more on Jaguar’s transformation in the coming days and weeks,” the statement said.
Fox News’ Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.
