4 ms·

Elon has previously stated that he doesn't believe in advertising, "Tesla doesn't advertise". I assume that's the reason why it's newsworthy.

jojobas 2y ago
Maybe it didn't in the past, definitely does for a while now. There are TV ads from 2022. Regardless, why is Tesla advertising policy news, on YC of all places?
- rapsey 2y ago
  People love a new opportunity to bash on Musk.
  - kelthuzad 2y ago
    Elon also loves a new opportunity to bash people, what goes around comes around.
    - spiderice 2y ago
      Not sure we want HN to become the place where we bash people that like to bash people.
      - kelthuzad 2y ago
        I'm not saying that's what I want, I'm simply stating a rule of nature or rule of thumb, whatever you want to call it. What goes around tends to come around.
hackerlight 2y ago
There's also the obvious conflict of interest. How does that get resolved?
- djbusby 2y ago
  Maybe compare the spend to other channels? If it's significant difference then it's a problem? If all online channels are 200k and Twitter is one of 12 well, NBD.
  - jojobas 2y ago
    Spend in other channels would be irrelevant. Fair pricing is the only thing I can think of.
- uhohspaghetti 2y ago
  [dead]
- rapsey 2y ago
  Is this a moral or legal code that is being broken somehow? Because he owns both companies it is somehow immoral to do business between them?
  - tayo42 2y ago
    no, but there is potential so its probably better off not doing it. but this sounds pretty low for a major company's advertising budget and pretty low in relative amounts to be worth risking doing corrupt things.
  - ipv6ipv4 2y ago
    Tesla is a publicly traded company with shareholders. Twitter is Musk’s private plaything. Tesla using Twitter services could be a conflict of interest because Musk is CEO of both and could be using his position at Tesla to funnel public shareholder money into Twitter, aka his pocket.
  - nrb 2y ago
    Other shareholders of the companies might bring up conflict of interest concerns, if the deal is lopsided one way or the other. Theoretically it is a way to siphon funds from one company to the other if he forced one of his companies to take a raw deal from the other. If both sides got a fair deal, it’s probably not much to worry about though.
memish 2y ago
He said a while ago that he was open to trying it in response to some shareholders who kept asking him to advertise.
mandeepj 2y ago
> Elon has previously stated that he doesn't believe in advertising I have seen numerous Tesla ads on Youtube
- hughesjj 2y ago
  Also tons of astroturfing
yfw 2y ago
He also says he'll be the last to sell Tesla stock
akira2501 2y ago
"Lying CEO lies again." or "Overconfident CEO has to eat his words again." Is this really a Musk thing or is he just the most visible and comical example of it?
- ben_w 2y ago
  Most visible. Seen many opine that SpaceX is slow and expensive, which only makes sense when anchored against Musk's fantasy timelines as all the old space companies are much slower and more expensive than what SpaceX actually delivers. Likewise with electric cars, the talking point is how Musk didn't really found Tesla, not that pre-Musk-CEO Tesla delivered 147 cars in 5.5 years for over a million dollars invested per vehicle.
- numpad0 2y ago
  Or, maybe the need for a focus group research with Tesla, advertising, and Twitter as topic had risen?
yunohn 2y ago
It’s also a tough bit of hypocrisy because he said he doesn’t believe in advertising and then bought a social media company that (like others) relies on advertising for the majority of its revenue.

jojobas 2y ago

Maybe it didn't in the past, definitely does for a while now. There are TV ads from 2022. Regardless, why is Tesla advertising policy news, on YC of all places?

rapsey 2y ago
People love a new opportunity to bash on Musk.
- kelthuzad 2y ago
  Elon also loves a new opportunity to bash people, what goes around comes around.
  - spiderice 2y ago
    Not sure we want HN to become the place where we bash people that like to bash people.
    - kelthuzad 2y ago
      I'm not saying that's what I want, I'm simply stating a rule of nature or rule of thumb, whatever you want to call it. What goes around tends to come around.

hackerlight 2y ago

There's also the obvious conflict of interest. How does that get resolved?

djbusby 2y ago
Maybe compare the spend to other channels? If it's significant difference then it's a problem? If all online channels are 200k and Twitter is one of 12 well, NBD.
- jojobas 2y ago
  Spend in other channels would be irrelevant. Fair pricing is the only thing I can think of.
uhohspaghetti 2y ago
[dead]
rapsey 2y ago
Is this a moral or legal code that is being broken somehow? Because he owns both companies it is somehow immoral to do business between them?
- tayo42 2y ago
  no, but there is potential so its probably better off not doing it. but this sounds pretty low for a major company's advertising budget and pretty low in relative amounts to be worth risking doing corrupt things.
- ipv6ipv4 2y ago
  Tesla is a publicly traded company with shareholders. Twitter is Musk’s private plaything. Tesla using Twitter services could be a conflict of interest because Musk is CEO of both and could be using his position at Tesla to funnel public shareholder money into Twitter, aka his pocket.
- nrb 2y ago
  Other shareholders of the companies might bring up conflict of interest concerns, if the deal is lopsided one way or the other. Theoretically it is a way to siphon funds from one company to the other if he forced one of his companies to take a raw deal from the other. If both sides got a fair deal, it’s probably not much to worry about though.

memish 2y ago

He said a while ago that he was open to trying it in response to some shareholders who kept asking him to advertise.

mandeepj 2y ago

> Elon has previously stated that he doesn't believe in advertising I have seen numerous Tesla ads on Youtube

hughesjj 2y ago
Also tons of astroturfing

yfw 2y ago

He also says he'll be the last to sell Tesla stock

akira2501 2y ago

"Lying CEO lies again." or "Overconfident CEO has to eat his words again." Is this really a Musk thing or is he just the most visible and comical example of it?

ben_w 2y ago
Most visible. Seen many opine that SpaceX is slow and expensive, which only makes sense when anchored against Musk's fantasy timelines as all the old space companies are much slower and more expensive than what SpaceX actually delivers. Likewise with electric cars, the talking point is how Musk didn't really found Tesla, not that pre-Musk-CEO Tesla delivered 147 cars in 5.5 years for over a million dollars invested per vehicle.
numpad0 2y ago
Or, maybe the need for a focus group research with Tesla, advertising, and Twitter as topic had risen?

yunohn 2y ago

It’s also a tough bit of hypocrisy because he said he doesn’t believe in advertising and then bought a social media company that (like others) relies on advertising for the majority of its revenue.