Elon Musk Changes His Mind About Advertising, Says Tesla Will Try it

Name: Elon Musk Changes His Mind About Advertising, Says Tesla Will Try it
Uploaded: 2023-05-17T07:47:11Z
Description: The outspoken CEO said that ads would need to be truthful and aesthetically pleasing, adding that if they’re “informative and entertaining, it approaches content.”

Musk has said in the past that he “hates” advertising.

Photo by: Tesla

Iulian Dnistran

By: Iulian Dnistran

May 17, 2023 at 3:47am ET

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Elon Musk said that Tesla “will try a little advertising and see how it goes” during the EV maker’s shareholders meeting last night at the Texas Gigafactory.

This comes as a bit of a surprise, considering Musk has said in the past that he “hates” advertising and that Tesla doesn’t advertise or pay for endorsements, instead using the money “to make the product great.”

Toward the end of yesterday’s meeting (which you can watch at the top of this page), one person asked the CEO why the company doesn’t advertise the main selling points of the EVs like the over-the-air (OTA) updates that improve the safety features, to which Musk replied:

“There are amazing features and functionalities in Teslas that people just don’t know about. And although there’s obviously a lot of people that follow the Tesla account, you know, my account, on Twitter, to some degree, it’s already preaching to the choir and the choir is already convinced.”

Continuing his reply to the investor who asked why Tesla has been hesitant with advertising, Musk said:

“So, I think what you’re saying does have some merit. And, you know what, I believe in taking suggestions, so we’ll try a little advertising and see how it goes.”

Then, in an interview with CNBC right after the shareholders meeting (embedded below), Tesla’s CEO said that he didn’t really think about this decision before the event and that it was a thing of the moment:

Elon Musk: “I only just agreed to it, so it’s not like I have a fully formed strategy.”

David Faber: “Well, how much time does go into when you think about these things? I mean, was it something you decided to do up on stage?”

Elon Musk: “Yeah.”

Furthermore, the outspoken CEO said that ads would need to be truthful and aesthetically pleasing, adding that if they’re “informative and entertaining, it approaches content.”

In recent months, Tesla has ramped up its video production efforts on its official Twitter account, announcing things like the recently introduced Model S Plaid Track Package and the ability to navigate to destinations based on the driver’s calendar.

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However, the company’s products haven’t made appearances on traditional media like newspapers or TV, and neither on platforms like Google Ads. So it will be interesting to see how Tesla will decide to promote its EVs in a bid to reach a larger audience.

As always, we’d like to know what you think about this, so head over to the comments section below to give us your thoughts.