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British luxury and sports car manufacturer Jaguar is currently facing backlash for its latest rebrand commercial. In the wake of this, the brand’s director Santino Pietrosanti’s DEI speech from the 2024 Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards has surfaced online.
The event, which the car brand powered, was held on October 9 at the Camden Roundhouse in London. Pietrosanti took to the stage and shared how the vehicle company was on a “transformative journey of our own.”
“At Jaguar, we are passionate about our people and we are 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,” he stated.
The now-viral speech continued with Santino mentioning that their employees were “driven by diversity, inclusion, creativity policy, and most importantly, action.” The brand director shared how the company has established “15 DEI groups,” such as initiatives focused on PRIDE, women in engineering, and neurodiversity.
He shared the company’s support for the LGBTQ+ community and allowing people to express themselves freely.
All you need to know about Santino Pietrosanti, Jaguar’s marketing head
According to his LinkedIn bio, Santino Pietrosanti has been the Jaguar Brand Director at JLR (Jaguar Land Rover) for the UK region since December 2023 and oversees “brand, product, and operations.”
From late 2019 to 2023, he was the company’s Director and Head of Global Strategic Partnerships and Corporate Development. He led “new global enterprise partnerships across digital payments, assisted driving technology, and EV infrastructure.”
Pietrosanti also launched JLR's Global Mobility strategy and managed teams of up to 22 FTE between November 2017 and 2019. Before joining the luxury car brand, Santino held several positions at Ernst & Young for over 7 years, including consultant, senior consultant, manager, and senior manager for the Advisory Performance Improvement division. He was also EY’s Chief of Staff/Associate Director for EMEIA Advisory.
Santino Pietrosanti also served as the Strategy Manager for InMotion, an independent corporate startup powered by JLR. Some of the other companies the current Jaguar marketing head worked for include AWBriefing, Antares Real Estate, and Business Development, as well as the Boston University Office of Information Technology.
Notably, Pietrosanti is a Boston University graduate (BSBA) with magna cum laude in International Business Management. Santino identifies by the pronouns he/him. Although he is an American, he currently lives in Milton Keynes, England, with his Scottish husband of 12 years, Paul, and cockapoo, Mia, in a £975,000 home.
Exploring Santino Pietrosanti’s speech and the ongoing brand controversy
On November 20, Jaguar made headlines after its latest commercial, titled “Copy Nothing,” began drawing negative attention. The 30-second ad featured human models walking through vibrant, abstract scenes while phrases like “Create exuberant,” “Live vivid,” “Delete ordinary,” “Break molds,” and “Copy nothing” appeared on the screen.
However, the commercial did not display a single car, thus earning criticism from many, including tech magnate and Tesla CEO Elon Musk and The Spectator Magazine. Many have even called the ad “woke” in response to Santino Pietrosanti’s remark that the rebranding was a celebration of diversity, inclusivity, and originality, among other things.
Pietrosanti even shared the ad on LinkedIn and welcomed the brand loyalists to a “new era” for the brand and its products/services, which was driven by a “passion” to bring the “incredible brand to life.”
“New Jaguar will champion true originality, building on a century of pioneering British creativity. Staying true to our founder Sir William Lyons' belief that 'A Jaguar should be a copy of nothing'... new era will recapture that ethos. It's bold. It's fearless. It's exuberant. It's everything a Jaguar should be,” Santino wrote.
“As we look forward... we will recapture originality as its core and shift it to an all-new space where it can be truly unique… doesn't need to copy anything - we copy nothing. Our symbols of change will make this clear - a new device mark, new tone, and image.”
Ahead of the rebranding commercial launch, the brand director shared at the 13th Attitude Awards last month that the company has been undergoing DEI policy revisions such as transitioning at work, driving equity and support for the communities, and embracing “individuality as our superpower.”
Santino Pietrosanti shared how, only two weeks ago, the company held its global annual DEI summit, which was attended by more than ten thousand employees from around the world.
“Creativity has been at the core of the… brand since its inception. And we are about to bring Jaguar back to something truly special…,” he added.
Santino wrapped up by saying how in a couple of weeks, people should expect to see “an all-new Jaguar like never before,” not just new cars but innovative thinking and embracing the “full spectrum of human potential and creativity.” He mentioned that the brand has always “stood for fearless originality, striving to be a copy of nothing.”
The 102-year-old automaker company is currently preparing for the all-electric relaunch next year and recently updated its iconic brand logo on November 18.
