It's well known that Musk has long been opposed to advertising. Tesla has previously refrained from paying celebrities to endorse its products or running ads (although there have been exceptions in the past). Despite suggestions from Tesla fans and investors to at least give advertising a try, Musk has consistently opposed the idea, even stating a "hatred" for advertising.
Interestingly, since Musk acquired Twitter, which relies on ad revenue, there have been subtle shifts. Months after the acquisition, during Tesla's annual shareholder meeting, when asked if Tesla would start advertising, Musk remarked, "It's actually ironic. Twitter is highly dependent on advertising, and I've never really used advertising before, and now I own a company that's highly dependent on advertising. I guess I should say advertising is great and everyone should do it."
Following this, Musk announced that Tesla would indeed start advertising. Many speculated this might be a way for Musk to divert more funds from Tesla to Twitter. Notably, Tesla has begun paying for premium accounts for over a dozen Twitter handles.
Last year, Tesla did start some targeted Google ad placements but had not advertised on Twitter (now called X).
Due to potential conflicts of interest, and Musk himself acknowledging it would be "preaching to the choir" (i.e., promoting to those already familiar with the product), it was not previously expected that Tesla would advertise on X. However, that's not the case. X users report seeing Tesla ads since February 2024.
Today, Tesla released the proxy statement for its 2024 shareholder meeting, confirming they spent $200,000 on advertising on Musk's X platform. The statement notes that as part of a multi-platform ad campaign, Tesla directly or indirectly purchased ads on X totaling approximately $200,000 (as of February 2024).
It's worth noting that Musk evidently does not want Tesla to advertise on Instagram and Facebook, but Tesla has proceeded with advertising on those platforms as well, seemingly to mitigate public opinion.
