Elon Musk urged rival automakers to keep running advertisements on Twitter despite his acquisition of the social media platform. He also pledged to avoid giving Tesla an undue advantage while running both businesses, as per InsideEVs.
In a town hall for advertisers that was streamed on Twitter Spaces, the richest man in the world promised:
“We will try to be as fair as possible.”
Musk’s erratic behavior against Twitter advertisers
Thankfully, CEO Musk has somehow lowered his pride when it comes to Twitter subjects, especially to advertisers.
He tweeted on November 4 that activist organizations are forcing advertisers to cease using Twitter as they were “trying to destroy free speech in America,” he claimed.
Not only that, he further warned advertisers of a “thermonuclear name and shame” if they kept removing their adverts from the social media platform.
Major auto brands boycott Musk-led Twitter
The remarks highlight the strain in the industry, with many big auto brands pausing Twitter marketing. Fisker, Stellantis NV, General Motors, and Volkswagen AG were among them.
Henrik Fisker, CEO of Fisker, was the first to retaliate by removing his personal Twitter account since Tesla’s CEO bid on Twitter in April 2022. According to Fisker, he did not want his free speech “to be actively managed or controlled by a competitor.”
Furthermore, the company that owns the Jeep and Ram car brands also announced earlier this week that it would stop posting “until we have a clearer understanding of the future of the platform under its new leadership,” it said.
Moreover, United Airlines, General Mills, Mondelez, and other businesses followed suit with a parallel view against Musk’s Twitter acquisition. Therefore, the social media platform also risks losing these major companies.
When Elon Musk announced major layoffs a few days ago, he acknowledged that Twitter is losing $4 million daily. Therefore, the platform cannot risk losing significant advertisers like those mentioned above.
