Elon Musk has been part of the Tesla brand from the beginning. When he chose to make his brand partisan, it was going to affect the Tesla brand. Let's not pretend you can separate the two.
Most of the pushback on Tesla I see is that people don't want to fund Musk's partisan war on "woke". There are legitimate criticisms of the Tesla services (maintenance, insurance) which will keep me from buying one, but generally I would expect pushback about the brand based on what it stands for now.
You can't have it both ways. Musk can't fuel the Tesla brand on the way up and then be agnostic to him on the way down.
As I said in the post, I definitely do not fully agree with all the decisions of any company CEO. Especially not companies like Meta, who I critique often! But I don't think you have to agree with everything a CEO does or says to use a product or service. If that were the case, you might sit in a room alone with nothing to do and nowhere to go.
That's true in the general case, but it can't be true in the specific case of Tesla where Musk is part of the brand. Few other companies have their brand so deeply tied into the CEO, and when Musk changed his brand he changed the Tesla brand. It's a double edged sword.
It's not just the US, Tesla sales are WAY down worldwide.
A better question is why conservatives don't buy EVs, because the new Musk/Tesla branding would be ideal for them. Alas, I suspect it's that climate change denial is part of conservative culture now.
Every CEO is part of the brand. Many of them just don't take as active of a role. Perhaps they should. It doesn't have to be done like Elon, in fact it would be bad to do it any way other than being themselves.
No, definitely not. Most people couldn't even name the CEO of a given brand! Steve Jobs was the closest we have in recent memory, but even today few folks outside of tech know Tim Cook.
And that's on purpose! The company's brand shouldn't be dependent on a specific individual that might be fired or replaced. The company needs to create its own independent brand that it can shape to further it's business.
Being tied so closely to Musk helped Tesla on the way up, but now it's a rock pulling it down. You can't separate the two because Musk didn't want it that way.
Any large high impact firm we all know the CEOs name and what they stand for. It's too important not to be the case. And the companies will function with different leaders after they're gone. In some cases they do even better (IE MSFT). I like knowing the humans, I would always rather it be public and we see what's there vs hidden and we know nothing. At least there's transparency (even if not everyone likes it).
Who's the CEO of Nike? Of ExxonMobil? Who's the CEO of Home Depot? Normal folks don't know because the CEOs don't have a high profile and aren't part of the brand.
If you don't work in tech you have no idea who's the CEO of Microsoft or Google.
This is all on purpose. Tesla is the only company that folks know the CEO because Musk made it that way.
This is such an...interesting post. Your shock and outrage at people's shock and outrage seems a little tone deaf? Normally you're not this reactive or surprised at everyday trends. The concept that people decide where their money goes is not a new 2025 problem. For decades companies have lived and died based on boycotts - look at the bud light issue of recent when they hired Dylan Mulvaney and people were shooting full beer cans they had already bought. Protests, boycotts, and economic blackouts have always been a part of capitalism and democracy for one reason or another. You may not like it, and it may or may not be annoying, but your surprise is surprising. It's just new that it happened to you, maybe? And that can be an uncomfortable feeling. The comments you deleted seemed more like they were challenging you more than the subject of their content being something your mother would be upset by, but that's just my humble opinion. Obviously these are your accounts and you can do what you like.
1) To be surprised by the response, to me, shows a particular lack of awareness and reading the room. We are currently living in a very charged era of life where people are being impacted directly by the companies & CEO at the top at an alarming rate. There's going to be pushback. People are not "radicalized" - they're showing concern and are directly impacted by this one man's unique influence on our president. He's not your average CEO, and surveys are showing this result across political ideology.
2) People are surprised you're supporting Musk not because he's any old CEO - they're surprised because of how visible, far reaching, and tied to the brand he is. He's currently running a new government entity that is being questioned about its constitutionality and he's firing people across the country in some cases wrongfully, and we've never seen anything like this before -- whether or not you agree for the political aspect, it's new and weird behavior for the US. This one CEO has more influence on our president than any other CEO prior. People are bewildered. I said it before and I'll say it again -- once people know something that they didn't know before, they do typically tend to avoid the things that they don't like. It may not be 100% (i.e. using Facebook after 20 years and deleting the account after they disagree with Zuckerberg is hard, but 42% of Facebook users said that they have taken a break from using the site in the last year due to this.) For someone who's typically analytically minded - it's worth going down a deep dive of boycotts and seeing their impact across the political spectrum. It's much easier for people to not do something they haven't done yet vs undo something they've already done (i.e. to buy the car today vs 5 years ago, or don't join the site today vs 20 years of investment). Elon Musk is the most visible CEO in the world, and if any other CEO had this level of celebrity, they'd be just as criticized.
3) People are not mad that you posted at all, and they are not mad that you bought electric. From what I've seen they're more surprised that you posted AFTER the purchase, and without asking other Tesla owners what they thought. Again, not surprising behavior because the internet as we know it is all about crowdsourcing from friends because "experts" aren't always the best route. Actual users and their experience is typically what anyone under 45 has cared about for the last 20 years online. So, when you boast about buying a car from a man that's so entrenched in this company and when people haven't always had the best experience, again you're going to get some comments. The comments I saw, mainly said that they didn't love their Tesla experience and that there were other options out there.
I haven't left comments like this in a very, very very long time, but I've always liked and respected you. This viewpoint could use a little more context, history, and understanding of social media norms instead of vilifying people's surprise and lumping morality and radicalism into this unnecessarily. And if this was all just for clickbait to get some traction going, well then I fell for it.
Thanks for the comment Jenn, I always appreciate your thoughts. We don't have to agree on everything to discuss and debate, it's very bad when people stop doing that. As I said in the post I ofc don't agree with 100% of what any co CEO does - impossible to do for anyone. I also don't write clickbait. This would be written very differently for that.
I get that people make purchasing decisions based on their beliefs, always been the case. What I find notable isn’t the concept of boycotts, but how deeply personal and hostile some of the reactions have been. The responses I removed weren't just 'I don’t like Tesla' it was 'how dare you' and also talking about hitler and nazis or whatnot (I removed several like this). I don't need that sort of shaming on my personal FB page but you can do it here if you'd like, it only bothered me because that's not what I use FB for. As a Jew I really don't appreciate the hitler stuff. I kept the other comments, there's many there that disagree with me, I'm sorry if I accidentally nuked one that was milquetoast. But it's a personal page I don't really owe anyone a reason here.
I would like to comment that I don't believe in the point of view that the environment cares which brand.
I'd rather say that as long as it is the same kind of technology and it is not made in a sanctioned country the overwhelming majority of people would not care.
Yet there is of course an exception for this rule in this case and it is called Elon Musk. Rightly so I say. You obviously don't think so and that is your rightful decision.
But please, as the intellectual and educated writer you are, don't pretend you did not have any idea you'd get controversial and even heated comments in these times, days and hours of the destruction of your democracy by this unscrupulous profiteer and his orange partner in crime. Your clickbait may have been successful so far, at least I swallowed the bait. I'd just feel sad if not more people realise the rise of fascism and this fatal excess of the most inhumane form of capitalism where it would be the easiest, namely with a simple consumer decision, to make a difference. But I still have hope and more people are starting to wake up. I hope you are safe in your new car. Model 3 scored lowest in the current breakdown statistics of the german ADAC. Maybe that would be a more obvious reason to change horses. https://www.adac.de/news/tuev-report-2025/
It's not that strange. Tesla is owned by the world's richest man, who is also now busy dismantling major portions of the federal government that people care a lot about. As a result, a lot of us no longer feel comfortable supporting him or his businesses. If you are, and you're sharing your position (as you have), you're going to hear their opinions in response.
My friends and I call this “Musk Derangement Syndrome”
“Oh, you support SpaceX saving astronauts from the ISS when Boeing was going to leave them completely stranded?? Do you realize who it is that OWNS SpaceX?”
“Oh, you want to buy the highest quality electric vehicle in the market? Do you realize who RUNS the company that produces those vehicles?”
It's ironic that your piece points out this dynamic, but then is flooded with comments reiterating it. “Don't you realize the systemic harm that you are causing by writing a substack post about buying a car from the company that is run by (and 12% owned by) the guy who many democrats don't like right now? A little tone deaf.”
Tone deaf? No, I think the author has clearly heard the tone! “The tone” is just sounding more and more like a monotonous high-pitched screech of rage.
Opposing Musk politically on the merits of his political arguments is so easy. He is not a good politician!! Democrats don't win anything by pretending like Tesla and SpaceX are bad at what they do -- it's a self-own. The only people buying those lies are your own side! You're making yourself stupid through group self-deception!!
If anything, the savvy political move is like: “haha, yea, at least Musk makes great cars and rockets and electric chargers!
Anyway, I've been thinking a lot about how someone can be so good at building products but so bad at leadership: check out my latest piece on Musk’s failure to lead Americans.”
"Others weren’t upset so much that I bought the car, but that I shared the purchase. As if people don’t post about their lives online every single day. As if tech influencers and auto enthusiasts don’t talk about Tesla constantly"
A good reminder to #NeverPost. There's nothing good on there. Share direct, not to space.
Elon owns 13% of Tesla. Tesla is ~2% of the SP500. If people want to completely stop giving him more money, they should just stop investing into the SP500.
I don't agree with all of things Elon does or says, but it's not going to prevent me from purchasing a vehicle that provides the biggest bang for your buck, but also one of the safest for your family.
“…some of it was so inappropriate I had to delete it on Facebook, of all places, where my mother and family see. You should behave here like you would at someone else’s dinner table.” That is classic and I’m gonna quote it. Right on.
Truth is: a lot of people use the dissociation of social media (the being-in-another-room-not-face-to-face) as an excuse for bad behavior….
The deranged left shows its true colors every day. Elon Musk could find the cure for cancer (perhaps one day he will) and the legacy media's headline would be: "Elon Musk hasn't yet found the cure for diabetes." They are not for saving the environment any more than they were for "saving democracy". The only thing they want to save is their power and their perceived right to shove their ideology down everybody's throats. Enjoy your Tesla and don't listen to those fools.
I started reading this and thought it was a joke. It is, right? It feels dishonest or disingenious, at best, given the numerous worldwide protests and acts of vandalism against Teslas, their charging ports, and dealerships - all of which have been extensively covered in the news and on social media. I don't care what car you drive, but I'm annoyed that I fell for the misleading clickbait headline and feel tricked by the whole thing. Good luck with your car!
Not a joke, and the vandalism is equally surprising to me. It's not how the world should work out frustrations, those are just individual people not responsible for anything and being given stress.
I feel like you are a serious and sensible human so I think you are making the best choice for you that you can. I agree, choosing an EV is good for the environment. I have plenty of friends that have Teslas (I live in Northern CA, where if you throw a rock you'll likely hit a Tesla, a tech exec or a yoga teacher! I love it here.) That said, like many, I find Musk reprehensible, unserious and the poster child for Dunning-Kruger. BUT, I don't judge people by what they purchase. Dog is rad and looks like a bit of a troublemaker (a good thing). I hope you are swinging for the fences. I'll see you out in outdoor gym. cheers.
Both Musk and Trump deny the humanity and existence of transgender people, I don't think it's hard to see where distaste for them comes from. That isn't a matter of opinion, it's a matter of people's right to exist.
Elon Musk has been part of the Tesla brand from the beginning. When he chose to make his brand partisan, it was going to affect the Tesla brand. Let's not pretend you can separate the two.
Most of the pushback on Tesla I see is that people don't want to fund Musk's partisan war on "woke". There are legitimate criticisms of the Tesla services (maintenance, insurance) which will keep me from buying one, but generally I would expect pushback about the brand based on what it stands for now.
You can't have it both ways. Musk can't fuel the Tesla brand on the way up and then be agnostic to him on the way down.
As I said in the post, I definitely do not fully agree with all the decisions of any company CEO. Especially not companies like Meta, who I critique often! But I don't think you have to agree with everything a CEO does or says to use a product or service. If that were the case, you might sit in a room alone with nothing to do and nowhere to go.
That's true in the general case, but it can't be true in the specific case of Tesla where Musk is part of the brand. Few other companies have their brand so deeply tied into the CEO, and when Musk changed his brand he changed the Tesla brand. It's a double edged sword.
It's not just the US, Tesla sales are WAY down worldwide.
A better question is why conservatives don't buy EVs, because the new Musk/Tesla branding would be ideal for them. Alas, I suspect it's that climate change denial is part of conservative culture now.
Every CEO is part of the brand. Many of them just don't take as active of a role. Perhaps they should. It doesn't have to be done like Elon, in fact it would be bad to do it any way other than being themselves.
No, definitely not. Most people couldn't even name the CEO of a given brand! Steve Jobs was the closest we have in recent memory, but even today few folks outside of tech know Tim Cook.
And that's on purpose! The company's brand shouldn't be dependent on a specific individual that might be fired or replaced. The company needs to create its own independent brand that it can shape to further it's business.
Being tied so closely to Musk helped Tesla on the way up, but now it's a rock pulling it down. You can't separate the two because Musk didn't want it that way.
Any large high impact firm we all know the CEOs name and what they stand for. It's too important not to be the case. And the companies will function with different leaders after they're gone. In some cases they do even better (IE MSFT). I like knowing the humans, I would always rather it be public and we see what's there vs hidden and we know nothing. At least there's transparency (even if not everyone likes it).
Who's the CEO of Nike? Of ExxonMobil? Who's the CEO of Home Depot? Normal folks don't know because the CEOs don't have a high profile and aren't part of the brand.
If you don't work in tech you have no idea who's the CEO of Microsoft or Google.
This is all on purpose. Tesla is the only company that folks know the CEO because Musk made it that way.
Feels very disingenuous to claim all CEOs are part of the brand as to associate it with the same weight that Elon has with Tesla.
You probably have the wrong breed of dog as well Adam.
You can insult me, I don't really care - but I'll be damned if I let any of you insult Dash
This is such an...interesting post. Your shock and outrage at people's shock and outrage seems a little tone deaf? Normally you're not this reactive or surprised at everyday trends. The concept that people decide where their money goes is not a new 2025 problem. For decades companies have lived and died based on boycotts - look at the bud light issue of recent when they hired Dylan Mulvaney and people were shooting full beer cans they had already bought. Protests, boycotts, and economic blackouts have always been a part of capitalism and democracy for one reason or another. You may not like it, and it may or may not be annoying, but your surprise is surprising. It's just new that it happened to you, maybe? And that can be an uncomfortable feeling. The comments you deleted seemed more like they were challenging you more than the subject of their content being something your mother would be upset by, but that's just my humble opinion. Obviously these are your accounts and you can do what you like.
1) To be surprised by the response, to me, shows a particular lack of awareness and reading the room. We are currently living in a very charged era of life where people are being impacted directly by the companies & CEO at the top at an alarming rate. There's going to be pushback. People are not "radicalized" - they're showing concern and are directly impacted by this one man's unique influence on our president. He's not your average CEO, and surveys are showing this result across political ideology.
2) People are surprised you're supporting Musk not because he's any old CEO - they're surprised because of how visible, far reaching, and tied to the brand he is. He's currently running a new government entity that is being questioned about its constitutionality and he's firing people across the country in some cases wrongfully, and we've never seen anything like this before -- whether or not you agree for the political aspect, it's new and weird behavior for the US. This one CEO has more influence on our president than any other CEO prior. People are bewildered. I said it before and I'll say it again -- once people know something that they didn't know before, they do typically tend to avoid the things that they don't like. It may not be 100% (i.e. using Facebook after 20 years and deleting the account after they disagree with Zuckerberg is hard, but 42% of Facebook users said that they have taken a break from using the site in the last year due to this.) For someone who's typically analytically minded - it's worth going down a deep dive of boycotts and seeing their impact across the political spectrum. It's much easier for people to not do something they haven't done yet vs undo something they've already done (i.e. to buy the car today vs 5 years ago, or don't join the site today vs 20 years of investment). Elon Musk is the most visible CEO in the world, and if any other CEO had this level of celebrity, they'd be just as criticized.
3) People are not mad that you posted at all, and they are not mad that you bought electric. From what I've seen they're more surprised that you posted AFTER the purchase, and without asking other Tesla owners what they thought. Again, not surprising behavior because the internet as we know it is all about crowdsourcing from friends because "experts" aren't always the best route. Actual users and their experience is typically what anyone under 45 has cared about for the last 20 years online. So, when you boast about buying a car from a man that's so entrenched in this company and when people haven't always had the best experience, again you're going to get some comments. The comments I saw, mainly said that they didn't love their Tesla experience and that there were other options out there.
I haven't left comments like this in a very, very very long time, but I've always liked and respected you. This viewpoint could use a little more context, history, and understanding of social media norms instead of vilifying people's surprise and lumping morality and radicalism into this unnecessarily. And if this was all just for clickbait to get some traction going, well then I fell for it.
Thanks for the comment Jenn, I always appreciate your thoughts. We don't have to agree on everything to discuss and debate, it's very bad when people stop doing that. As I said in the post I ofc don't agree with 100% of what any co CEO does - impossible to do for anyone. I also don't write clickbait. This would be written very differently for that.
I get that people make purchasing decisions based on their beliefs, always been the case. What I find notable isn’t the concept of boycotts, but how deeply personal and hostile some of the reactions have been. The responses I removed weren't just 'I don’t like Tesla' it was 'how dare you' and also talking about hitler and nazis or whatnot (I removed several like this). I don't need that sort of shaming on my personal FB page but you can do it here if you'd like, it only bothered me because that's not what I use FB for. As a Jew I really don't appreciate the hitler stuff. I kept the other comments, there's many there that disagree with me, I'm sorry if I accidentally nuked one that was milquetoast. But it's a personal page I don't really owe anyone a reason here.
I would like to comment that I don't believe in the point of view that the environment cares which brand.
I'd rather say that as long as it is the same kind of technology and it is not made in a sanctioned country the overwhelming majority of people would not care.
Yet there is of course an exception for this rule in this case and it is called Elon Musk. Rightly so I say. You obviously don't think so and that is your rightful decision.
But please, as the intellectual and educated writer you are, don't pretend you did not have any idea you'd get controversial and even heated comments in these times, days and hours of the destruction of your democracy by this unscrupulous profiteer and his orange partner in crime. Your clickbait may have been successful so far, at least I swallowed the bait. I'd just feel sad if not more people realise the rise of fascism and this fatal excess of the most inhumane form of capitalism where it would be the easiest, namely with a simple consumer decision, to make a difference. But I still have hope and more people are starting to wake up. I hope you are safe in your new car. Model 3 scored lowest in the current breakdown statistics of the german ADAC. Maybe that would be a more obvious reason to change horses. https://www.adac.de/news/tuev-report-2025/
It's not that strange. Tesla is owned by the world's richest man, who is also now busy dismantling major portions of the federal government that people care a lot about. As a result, a lot of us no longer feel comfortable supporting him or his businesses. If you are, and you're sharing your position (as you have), you're going to hear their opinions in response.
My friends and I call this “Musk Derangement Syndrome”
“Oh, you support SpaceX saving astronauts from the ISS when Boeing was going to leave them completely stranded?? Do you realize who it is that OWNS SpaceX?”
“Oh, you want to buy the highest quality electric vehicle in the market? Do you realize who RUNS the company that produces those vehicles?”
It's ironic that your piece points out this dynamic, but then is flooded with comments reiterating it. “Don't you realize the systemic harm that you are causing by writing a substack post about buying a car from the company that is run by (and 12% owned by) the guy who many democrats don't like right now? A little tone deaf.”
Tone deaf? No, I think the author has clearly heard the tone! “The tone” is just sounding more and more like a monotonous high-pitched screech of rage.
Opposing Musk politically on the merits of his political arguments is so easy. He is not a good politician!! Democrats don't win anything by pretending like Tesla and SpaceX are bad at what they do -- it's a self-own. The only people buying those lies are your own side! You're making yourself stupid through group self-deception!!
If anything, the savvy political move is like: “haha, yea, at least Musk makes great cars and rockets and electric chargers!
Anyway, I've been thinking a lot about how someone can be so good at building products but so bad at leadership: check out my latest piece on Musk’s failure to lead Americans.”
"Others weren’t upset so much that I bought the car, but that I shared the purchase. As if people don’t post about their lives online every single day. As if tech influencers and auto enthusiasts don’t talk about Tesla constantly"
A good reminder to #NeverPost. There's nothing good on there. Share direct, not to space.
this is a great point I encourage this advice for everyone else, as a blogger sometimes you do get unexpected stories though
Elon owns 13% of Tesla. Tesla is ~2% of the SP500. If people want to completely stop giving him more money, they should just stop investing into the SP500.
I don't agree with all of things Elon does or says, but it's not going to prevent me from purchasing a vehicle that provides the biggest bang for your buck, but also one of the safest for your family.
There are a lot of good reasons to buy a Tesla but they are not the safest cars.
where can i chip into the crowdfund for a massive billboard that just says:
"The environment doesn’t care about ideological purity tests."
“…some of it was so inappropriate I had to delete it on Facebook, of all places, where my mother and family see. You should behave here like you would at someone else’s dinner table.” That is classic and I’m gonna quote it. Right on.
Truth is: a lot of people use the dissociation of social media (the being-in-another-room-not-face-to-face) as an excuse for bad behavior….
The deranged left shows its true colors every day. Elon Musk could find the cure for cancer (perhaps one day he will) and the legacy media's headline would be: "Elon Musk hasn't yet found the cure for diabetes." They are not for saving the environment any more than they were for "saving democracy". The only thing they want to save is their power and their perceived right to shove their ideology down everybody's throats. Enjoy your Tesla and don't listen to those fools.
The “surprise” at the reaction to buying a Tesla is you doing a bit, right?
It seemed odd to me
I started reading this and thought it was a joke. It is, right? It feels dishonest or disingenious, at best, given the numerous worldwide protests and acts of vandalism against Teslas, their charging ports, and dealerships - all of which have been extensively covered in the news and on social media. I don't care what car you drive, but I'm annoyed that I fell for the misleading clickbait headline and feel tricked by the whole thing. Good luck with your car!
Not a joke, and the vandalism is equally surprising to me. It's not how the world should work out frustrations, those are just individual people not responsible for anything and being given stress.
I feel like you are a serious and sensible human so I think you are making the best choice for you that you can. I agree, choosing an EV is good for the environment. I have plenty of friends that have Teslas (I live in Northern CA, where if you throw a rock you'll likely hit a Tesla, a tech exec or a yoga teacher! I love it here.) That said, like many, I find Musk reprehensible, unserious and the poster child for Dunning-Kruger. BUT, I don't judge people by what they purchase. Dog is rad and looks like a bit of a troublemaker (a good thing). I hope you are swinging for the fences. I'll see you out in outdoor gym. cheers.
As long as you're not an immigrant cooking transgender mice in an appliance made in China, it's all good.
Hating Tesla “cause Musk” is not much different than her shaving her head “cause Trump”. Nonsense.
Both Musk and Trump deny the humanity and existence of transgender people, I don't think it's hard to see where distaste for them comes from. That isn't a matter of opinion, it's a matter of people's right to exist.
they deny the humanity and existence of anybody who thinks in a liberal sense.