Tesla had a wow moment on its Q1 2022 earnings call that isn’t talked about enough. In the first quarter of this year, Tesla’s sales grew to over $18 billion, but that’s not the wow moment I’ll get to in a moment. I mean, yes, this is incredible news for a company that many analysts have doomed for years, but what I want to talk about is something so rare and incredible that it’s almost impossible to match.
Tesla’s head of investor relations, Martin Viecha, emphasized this. In his tweet below, Viecha shared a chart from Tesla’s shareholder deck that reflected Tesla’s gross orders for vehicles in the US around the time of the Super Bowl. If you look closely at the chart he provided, you can see that Tesla sales skyrocketed between February 12th and 14th. Super Bowl Sunday was February 13th.
Although this might be my favorite overall pic.twitter.com/OHDLp4qDwV
– Martin Viecha (@MartinViecha) April 21, 2022
You may remember my article I published in February reporting how both Tesla and Elon Musk got free publicity during the Super Bowl. Tesla doesn’t pay for advertising and, of course, hasn’t participated in the Super Bowl advertising tradition, unlike some of its competitors — who actually targeted both Tesla and Elon Musk.
Imagine spending millions of dollars just to make your competition stand out. I received several criticisms online and offline for this article. I was told that I missed the point, gave misleading information, and that ads for Tesla’s competitors would draw the attention of the American public more than Tesla itself. Maybe that last part could be true one day – I’m not suggesting that predict future. However, the data shared by Viecha is proof that I was correct and that the information was not misleading as some believed.
It makes perfect sense.
EV ads by their well-known brands (plural) bring solace to EV-skeptical consumers.
Of course, once they’re convinced of EV as the next car, they check out the leading brand.
Either way, increasing overall consumer confidence and interest in electric vehicles is good for the planet. https://t.co/zLjpBEaoiU— HIRO MIZUNO (@hiromichimizuno) April 22, 2022
The wow moment here is that Tesla has achieved what many companies are trying to achieve during Super Bowl weekend — without paying a dime. As Tesla’s Hiro Mizuno said on Twitter, that makes sense. Because when well-known brands promote electric vehicles, Tesla is promoted, and when someone is convinced to buy an electric vehicle, they often choose the leading brand. And that brand is Tesla. Mizono added that increasing overall consumer confidence and interest in EVs is good for the planet, and I agree.
Do you value CleanTechnica’s originality? Consider becoming a CleanTechnica Member, Supporter, Technician, or Ambassador—or a Patron on Patreon.
Do you have a tip for CleanTechnica, would you like to advertise or suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk Podcast? Contact us here.
