‘Tesla’ Ad On TV Showcases Catastrophic Scenarios To Condemn Self-Driving
Tesla, unlike other automakers, doesn’t advertise its cars traditionally, and it didn’t shell out for a coveted advertising spot during the Super Bowl. However, its vehicles still featured in a commercial this year, albeit not one that had many good things to say about it.
The Dawn Project, an organization by Dan O’Dowd that wants to “make computers safe for humanity,” produced a 30-second advertisement on the matter, displaying several clips of Teslas running into child-sized test dummies, swerving into traffic, and more.
According to Mashable, the organization has already spent millions of dollars to ban Full Self-Driving from roads around the country, and it has now stepped up its marketing efforts to broadcast its message to the public in Washington DC, Austin, Texas, and elsewhere.
As the Washington Post points out, because of Tesla’s reluctance to use typical advertising methods, this anti-autonomous advertisement could be the first impression the public has of its vehicles.
CEO Elon Musk might not be too bothered, as per Managing Partner of Deepwater Asset Management Gene Munster, who tells the publication it’s like the “master of spin” will simply ignore any bad publicity.
Last year, Tesla sent a cease-and-desist letter to the group to stop it from publishing the footage of the cars failing to stop for child-sized mannequins, citing a separate test that showed the vehicles managed to stop in front of a real child.
Perhaps a slew of bad advertisements isn’t the main problem the automaker is looking to address, as it undergoes probes from the US Department of Justice and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration over its self-driving claims.
We publish footage of each test, including multiple angles showing controls not touched, and fanboys still confidently assert we faked them!
— Dan O'Dowd (@RealDanODowd) February 11, 2023
To remove all doubt that these severe safety defects are real we invite @ElonMusk, @NHTSAgov, the media to witness a public demonstration.
[via Mashable and Washington Post, cover image via The Dawn Project]
