We live in a politically and culturally polarized society. And advertising is not immune to the situation. The commercial messages of the brands are interpreted daily, inevitably, in the light of current circumstances and diverse perspectives, and the interpretation that has been made of one of the latest advertisements of Volvo and the rebranding of Jaguar is a sample of it.

Last week, the luxury automobile company shared the radical turn that has given its brand and visual identity with the objective, not only of paving the communicative path for its future fleet of electric cars, but also to boost notoriety and reposition the company in the market.

Under the concept “Copy nothing” and the “exuberant modernism” style, the audiovisual piece presented multicultural models on fantastic and brightly colored settings. rebranding which has been the subject of conversation in recent days and which has generated criticism towards Jaguar, to which a segment of opinion has been called “woke”, in reference to his progressive will.

Precisely as a result of this evolution of the brand, some have brought up, as a contrast, an advertising campaign launched last September by Volvo. Designed by the Stendahls agency and produced by New Land, the company has highlighted the safety of its EX90 model with the claim “For Life”.

To do this, he has created an emotional narrative that proposes a projected emotional journey of a couple when faced with the news that they are going to be parents. He imagines the pros and cons of fatherhood, and shares his hopes and fears regarding his relationship with his daughter; while she, in the present, runs the risk of being run over. The piece concludes on a positive note thanks to Volvo’s safety system.
It includes the message: “Sometimes the moments that don’t happen are the ones that matter the most.”

Later recovered according to the message from Jaguar, the one from Volvo It has been interpreted as a “pro-life” or “pro-family” demand. Some users have pointed out that while Jaguar “promotes debauchery,” Volvo has created a “beautiful and emotional” message that praises traditional values ​​and family, and that reflects what it means to be a father. “This is how you make a car advertisement,” users have commented.

The family, a key resource in advertising

Beyond the culture war, Volvo is turning to family, a narrative resource and essential emotional attribute of advertising, to reinforce its message of safety and trust in its vehicles to protect what matters most. Advertising has used family, motherhood and fatherhood for decades to extol the values ​​of the brands, first with an idealized and aspirational version, and then with a more realistic approach.

Volvo’s advertisement is effective because connects emotionally with the consumer, but it follows in the wake of hundreds of brands around the world that, whether from emotion or humor, have sought purchase consideration by representing family relationships, the difficulties of fatherhood or motherhood, or even pregnancies.

Recent examples include the announcement of John Lewis from 2022, devised by Adam&Eve DDB, in which a man learns to skate to find a common point with the teenager that he and his wife are going to welcome into their home.
In our country, for example, the Real Betis Balompié created “Betic Test”, designed by VML Spain, to pay tribute to the green and white passion that unites fans from father to son since the birth of the club.
AND Ikea He has also recently turned to the idiosyncrasies of fatherhood and motherhood with “Second Best.”

Before these, other brands have done it years before. For its sponsorship of the 2012 Olympic Games, P&G He applied as a “proud sponsor of mothers,” describing motherhood as the most difficult job in the world, but also the best.
And the Santo Buenos Aires agency also photographed Coca-Cola Argentinathe ups and downs of being a father.

For its part, with its rebranding Jaguar has been associated with other attributes, simply different from Volvo’s. In its commitment to electrification, it has sought to link itself to values ​​of modernity and innovation, also evoking diversity, inclusion and differentiation. Within the framework of its nature as a luxury brand, it has also wanted to associate itself with the sophistication of art and fashion.

“Our brand relaunch is a bold and imaginative reinvention and, as expected, has attracted attention”, they have commented from the company defending the change of identity, according to Fast Company.
On the YouTube channel, the piece has more than 2.2 million views.

Perhaps the proposals from Volvo and Jaguar are not polar opposites. Maybe it’s just brands linking to attributes. Maybe it’s just advertising being advertising.