3 ms·

It’s a euphemism for having a fucking office where other people can contact you to get your side of the story.

throwaway894345 5y ago
I have a hard time believing it was the inability to contact Tesla and not the large sums of money and implied favors from legacy automotive manufacturers which persuaded politicians to pass (or try to pass) overtly anti-Tesla policy. Similarly, I have a hard time believing that were it for a Tesla PR department Joe Biden's team would've been aware that it was Tesla that was the driving force behind American EV efforts and not Ford or GM (the latter of whom sold a whopping 26 EVs nationally in 2021 Q4). Similarly, I have a hard time believing that automotive publications that regularly test drive expensive cars were unable to get their hands on a Tesla because Tesla lacks a press department. Most of all, I find it conspicuous that all of these things are contemporaneous with Tesla eating legacy automotive's lunch rather than the time Musk dissolved Tesla's PR department a year prior.
- sfifs 5y ago
  There's a couple of different problems here - but both really are related to the question of aligning incentives. In terms of PR departments, the point is most journalists - for their own long term career/reputations - would prefer to outline both sides of view or at least response quotations for their stories to create an appearance of impartiality. However, when working on deadlines, they won't go out of the way or jump over hoops to do so. The PR department simplifies this massively working towards journalist's incentives and minimizes negative stories & negativity of stories that get put out. Musk seems to be a control freak in that he seems to be unable to delegate PR but the trade-off is he can't personally influence every story. In terms of the Government piece, the Democratic party has always had a core of unions & worker rights underlying the core base. Musk tweets and Tesla stories have portrayed him been openly hostile & contemptuous of this space and seemingly without anyone to gainsay him, there's no one to bridge. So is it any surprise Tesla gets ignored? Make no mistake - EV is rapidly becoming commoditized. With full-self driving no were near the horizon for anyone in terms of production, margins are going to shrink as there becomes very little to differentiate products and these mis-steps can risk the business.
  - throwaway894345 5y ago
    I’m not buying it. A PR department isn’t going to make the difference between whether or not the press or politicians do their job on a basic level. I specifically don’t believe that Tesla’s PR department would have nullified Biden’s (and other politicians) incentives to please Detroit. > Make no mistake - EV is rapidly becoming commoditized. With full-self driving no were near the horizon for anyone in terms of production, margins are going to shrink as there becomes very little to differentiate products and these mis-steps can risk the business. There’s a wide chasm between Tesla and generic EVs with respect to manufacturing processes, battery technology (especially range), software integration, charging network, and so on. Tesla’s mote is formidable and will endure for the foreseeable future irrespective of level 5 FSD.

I have a hard time believing it was the inability to contact Tesla and not the large sums of money and implied favors from legacy automotive manufacturers which persuaded politicians to pass (or try to pass) overtly anti-Tesla policy. Similarly, I have a hard time believing that were it for a Tesla PR department Joe Biden's team would've been aware that it was Tesla that was the driving force behind American EV efforts and not Ford or GM (the latter of whom sold a whopping 26 EVs nationally in 2021 Q4). Similarly, I have a hard time believing that automotive publications that regularly test drive expensive cars were unable to get their hands on a Tesla because Tesla lacks a press department. Most of all, I find it conspicuous that all of these things are contemporaneous with Tesla eating legacy automotive's lunch rather than the time Musk dissolved Tesla's PR department a year prior.

sfifs 5y ago
There's a couple of different problems here - but both really are related to the question of aligning incentives. In terms of PR departments, the point is most journalists - for their own long term career/reputations - would prefer to outline both sides of view or at least response quotations for their stories to create an appearance of impartiality. However, when working on deadlines, they won't go out of the way or jump over hoops to do so. The PR department simplifies this massively working towards journalist's incentives and minimizes negative stories & negativity of stories that get put out. Musk seems to be a control freak in that he seems to be unable to delegate PR but the trade-off is he can't personally influence every story. In terms of the Government piece, the Democratic party has always had a core of unions & worker rights underlying the core base. Musk tweets and Tesla stories have portrayed him been openly hostile & contemptuous of this space and seemingly without anyone to gainsay him, there's no one to bridge. So is it any surprise Tesla gets ignored? Make no mistake - EV is rapidly becoming commoditized. With full-self driving no were near the horizon for anyone in terms of production, margins are going to shrink as there becomes very little to differentiate products and these mis-steps can risk the business.
- throwaway894345 5y ago
  I’m not buying it. A PR department isn’t going to make the difference between whether or not the press or politicians do their job on a basic level. I specifically don’t believe that Tesla’s PR department would have nullified Biden’s (and other politicians) incentives to please Detroit. > Make no mistake - EV is rapidly becoming commoditized. With full-self driving no were near the horizon for anyone in terms of production, margins are going to shrink as there becomes very little to differentiate products and these mis-steps can risk the business. There’s a wide chasm between Tesla and generic EVs with respect to manufacturing processes, battery technology (especially range), software integration, charging network, and so on. Tesla’s mote is formidable and will endure for the foreseeable future irrespective of level 5 FSD.