Tesla is featured in its own Super Bowl commercial! Only it doesn’t tell viewers to buy the electric vehicle.
Rather, the 30-second spot is actually from one of the company’s biggest critics and The advert(Opens in a new tab) calls for Tesla’s Full Self-Driving to be completely banned on public roads.
The announcement was made by the Dawn Project(Opens in a new tab), an organization founded by tech entrepreneur Dan O’Dowd with the goal of “making computers safe for mankind”. O’Dowd and his group have had their sights set on Elon Musk’s Tesla for some time and have already put millions(Opens in a new tab) dollars in attempts to ban the company’s full self-driving feature from the roads.
The Dawn Project’s Super Bowl ad features multiple clips of Tesla’s self-driving feature that won’t stop for child-sized test dummies crossing the street, ignoring traffic signs and swerving into the wrong lane. The Super Bowl ad will air in Washington DC as well as other major metropolitan areas such as Austin, Texas and Atlanta, Georgia.
Tesla doesn’t advertise in the traditional way, so the company typically doesn’t air TV spots. As a result, O’Dowd’s Super Bowl ad highlighting the flaws in the company’s cars might be the first real impression of Tesla for many, a point highlighted by the Washington Post(Opens in a new tab) in its analysis of the ad.
Anti-Tesla Super Bowl ad may not be EV maker’s biggest concern
However, a Super Bowl ad exposing Tesla’s major flaws to hundreds of millions of potential consumers may not be the electric carmaker’s worst worry.
The United States Department of Justice is currently survey(Opens in a new tab) Tesla on its Autopilot and full self-driving features. Experts believe the DOJ could look into safety concerns or Tesla’s claims that its cars can drive themselves when they can’t.
In addition to the Justice Department, Tesla is also under investigation for its Autopilot and full self-driving features by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. NHTSA is the agency with the authority to prevent Tesla from rolling out these features on public roads. In the Dawn Project Super Bowl ad, the organization calls on NHTSA to take action.
While Musk may or may not be happy with the Super Bowl ad targeting Tesla, there may be an upside. Advertisers would have(Opens in a new tab) handed out $7 million just to have the brand featured in a single 30-second commercial during the big game. Tesla didn’t have to spend a penny.