by Tesla will be featured in his own Super Bowl ad! It just doesn’t ask viewers to buy the electric vehicle.
On the contrary, the 30-second spot actually comes from one of the company’s biggest critics The advertising(Opens in a new tab) demands that Tesla’s Full Self-Driving be completely banned from public roads.
The ad was produced by the Dawn project(Opens in a new tab), an organization founded by tech entrepreneur Dan O’Dowd whose goal is “to make computers safe for humanity”. O’Dowd and his group have had their sights on Elon Musk’s Tesla for some time, and have done so already bet millions(Opens in a new tab) of dollars in attempts to ban the company’s Full Self-Driving capability from the streets.
The Dawn Project’s Super Bowl commercial features numerous clips of Tesla’s autonomous driving feature, which doesn’t stop when child-sized test dummies cross the street, ignore traffic signs, and swerve into the wrong lane. The Super Bowl commercial 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 doesn’t typically run TV ads. As a result, O’Dowd’s Super Bowl ad, which highlights the company’s auto shortcomings, could be the first real impression of Tesla for many, a point highlighted by The Washington Post(Opens in a new tab) in his analysis of the ad.
The anti-Tesla Super Bowl ad may not be the EV maker’s biggest concern
However, a Super Bowl ad that presents major flaws in Tesla to hundreds of millions of potential consumers may not be the electric-vehicle maker’s worst concern.
The US Department of Justice is currently probing(Opens in a new tab) Tesla about its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving capabilities. Experts believe the DOJ could be investigating safety issues 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 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for its autopilot and full self-driving capabilities. The NHTSA is the agency with the authority to restrict Tesla from using these features on public roads. In Dawn Project’s 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 a bright side. advertisers allegedly(Opens in a new tab) Spent $7 million just to have the brand represented in a single 30-second commercial during the big game. Tesla didn’t have to spend a penny.
