However, there has been the feeling that at least part of autumn could be due to anger about the political activism of Tesla, CEO Elon Musk and the decisions of the so -called Department of Government Efficiency under its leadership. Since mid-February, Tesla showrooms have attracted protesters in around 100 cities in the US, enthusiastic to let passers-by know their feelings about the chainsaw-swinging musk.
These largely benign protests-staged protests with Mariachi bands, puppet players and large cardboard cyber trucks to decorate are organized by a website called Teslatakedown, and they attracted a lot of media reporting in the process.
Alex Winter, a documentary maker in Los Angeles and the titular account of Time-Travel Comedy from 1988 Bill & Ted's excellent adventure—S is the creator of the website. He says Wired that the movement of Teslatakedown wants to overthrow Musk: “We strive to devalue the brand. It is a very simple and effective means for people to take to the streets and protest. “Media of attention reinforces the message of the movement, says Winter.” We want to distribute verifiable, factual information about musk, distribute doge and why Tesla should be devalued. “
“Musk itself is the Tesla brand toxifying,” says Winter. “We just help him.”
Teslatakedown started last month, started by a placement of 10 February on Bluesky by Joan Donovan, a researcher of disinformation and assistant professor of journalism and emerging media studies at Boston University. “Come out and participate in an international picket #teslatakeover room,” she wrote, later agreement with the renamation of the movement.
“I was wondering what I wanted to do physically to increase consciousness [about Musk]? Well, I'm willing to go out on Saturday and protest for a Tesla dealer, “Donovan tells Wired. “I made a flyer and started circulating it online. Alex saw my message and we started texting about what to do; It all came together super fast. “
There were 50 people at the first demonstration in Boston on February 15. By the third week this had risen to 300. “I met teachers, people who work in public health, people who are retired, students at universities – all Americans who want to see Doge disappear,” says Donovan. “It is not just a strategic boycott from Tesla, it is a polyvocal protest where many complaints are broadcast.”
Elon Musk and Tesla did not respond to requests for comment.
Erica Chenoweth, a political scientist at Harvard University, has studied more than 300 modern uprising worldwide and discovered that change usually becomes inevitable when only 3.5 percent of a population join a movement.
“There are usually many more people who sympathize with movements than people who actively participate in them,” Chenoweth tells Wired.
So could Teslatakedown work quickly? “Instead of thinking about how long it takes,” she says, “I usually look to see if a movement and momentum build up with every subsequent action.
“In the social sciences of these movements, many people talk about the generation of defects – making people within different pillars of support their loyalty shift their loyalty away from the status quo. In the case of companies, those pillars can comprise shareholders, employees, suppliers, advertisers, consumers and people around them.”
Loyalty
Those pillars may already show signs of instability. About Reddit, Tiktok, Facebook and even X his messages started to stack from people who say they are dumping their Teslas. Singer Sheryl Crow was one of the more controversial among them, who placed an Instagram video on Valentine's Day and wanted a good advice for her Tesla while it was driven away on a flatbed trailer.
“There comes a time when you have to decide who you are willing to adapt. So long Tesla, “she wrote, adding that she donated the sales proceeds to the National Public Radio because it was” threatened by President Musk. “
