Photo: Billy Lam/National Geographic/edited by autoevolution
We recently wrote about a brilliant old Audi commercial promoting the German automaker while praising its main competitors. One thing is to recognize what other companies do well. A completely different one is to fund them, even if indirectly. GM probably decided to avoid this when it temporarily halted advertising on Twitter.
As you are aware, Elon Musk bought the company on October 27. One of the Tesla CEO’s first acts as “chief twit” was to send a letter to Twitter advertisers to say the company “aspires to be the most respected advertising platform in the world.” Musk even said that Twitter would strengthen brands and grow enterprises. However, that did not seem to convince GM – at least not coming from the CEO of the EV maker it wants to beat.
CNBC discovered that by anticipating the embarrassment that Elon Musk owning the social media would cause and by asking Tesla competitors about it. GM answered that they were “engaging with Twitter to understand the direction of the platform under their new ownership.” Meanwhile, the company suspended all paid advertising there. It still interacts with consumers and fans on Twitter, but that is about it.
Ford told CNBC that it does not advertise on Twitter. When it was presented with a promoted tweet from Jim Farley, the company’s CEO, the automaker said it could not confirm when was the last time it paid for anything on the platform. Like GM, it will continue to engage with customers there.
CNBC has tried to ask Stellantis the same question but did not get an answer before publishing the article. We are talking about Jeep, Chrysler, RAM, Alfa Romeo, and Fiat, to name a few. Rivian and Alphabet also did not answer. We are not sure if Amazon advertises with the social media, but if it does, it would not surprise us if it also stayed away from Twitter. Musk and Jeff Bezos frequently make fun of each other – not in a friendly way.
Ironically, Tesla and Elon Musk have always bragged about never spending a dime on marketing to sell the company’s EVs. Although that is not true, other carmakers may have been convinced to try the same, starting with Twitter. Musk may need to build “the most respected advertising platform in the world” exclusively with companies that do not sell cars.
CNBC discovered that by anticipating the embarrassment that Elon Musk owning the social media would cause and by asking Tesla competitors about it. GM answered that they were “engaging with Twitter to understand the direction of the platform under their new ownership.” Meanwhile, the company suspended all paid advertising there. It still interacts with consumers and fans on Twitter, but that is about it.
Ford told CNBC that it does not advertise on Twitter. When it was presented with a promoted tweet from Jim Farley, the company’s CEO, the automaker said it could not confirm when was the last time it paid for anything on the platform. Like GM, it will continue to engage with customers there.
CNBC has tried to ask Stellantis the same question but did not get an answer before publishing the article. We are talking about Jeep, Chrysler, RAM, Alfa Romeo, and Fiat, to name a few. Rivian and Alphabet also did not answer. We are not sure if Amazon advertises with the social media, but if it does, it would not surprise us if it also stayed away from Twitter. Musk and Jeff Bezos frequently make fun of each other – not in a friendly way.
Ironically, Tesla and Elon Musk have always bragged about never spending a dime on marketing to sell the company’s EVs. Although that is not true, other carmakers may have been convinced to try the same, starting with Twitter. Musk may need to build “the most respected advertising platform in the world” exclusively with companies that do not sell cars.
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