3 ms·

Elon Musk becomes a Fox News darling right before he launches an electric pickup truck. He obviously doesn’t want Tesla to be a brand associated with left wing

• ben_w 4y ago
  Which way around is cause and effect? An ex of mine is a literal communist, and her beliefs about Musk 5 years ago appear to have made their way to people I assume to be mainstream American left-wing (hard to be sure as I’m not American, but it’s the vibe I’m getting).
  • jcampbell1 4y ago
    That is the idea, you lose some left supporters of your brand in exchange for some right leaning supporters. Elon Musk believes this trade off is neutral to positive. Maybe he is wrong, but the anecdote about your communist ex doesn’t amount to much other than the brand has become less liked in your circle.
• DFHippie 4y ago
  If he manages to get conservatives to buy EVs to own the libs, that will be awesome. It's a pretty weird theory though: make yourself anathema to your core market, liberals with money, in hopes of winning over the anti-environmentalists. It's even weirder seeing as its timed to coincide with every other car manufacturer in the world entering the market and gunning for your market segment.
  • jcampbell1 4y ago
    The stock price agrees with you. I’m not convinced because the environmentalists may care more about environmental performance than his antics. Those indifferent to personal impact on climate change, which is economically rational, can rationally buy the Tesla truck based on operating cost economics… it just can’t be seen as a “libtruck for libs”. Weird theory, but it points to Elon not being quite as foolish as the left would believe.