For Tesla Owners, a Referendum Through Bumper Stickers
The New York Times
As Elon Musk has become a key player in President-elect Donald J. Trump’s world, Tesla owners are marking their cars to signify where they stand — for or against.
It was the last week of October, with the election fast approaching, and business was booming for Matthew Hiller. His Etsy shop was receiving hundreds of orders per day. He was preparing to leave for vacation in France, and was hoping that while he was away Elon Musk wouldn’t do anything “particularly crazy.”
It may seem strange, but every time Mr. Musk, the Tesla chief executive, causes a stir, Mr. Hiller has to fulfill orders for his online shops. The most popular of the items that he sells? Bumper stickers that say, in all-caps, “I Bought This Before We Knew Elon Was Crazy.”
For his vacation, Mr. Hiller asked a friend to cover for him. “I don’t know how she’s going to manage this,” he said. With Mr. Musk frequenting rallies in support of Donald J. Trump and posting on X relentlessly at the time, Mr. Hiller was dubious that business would slow. He had no idea that things were about to get far more hectic with Mr. Trump’s winning the presidential election and Mr. Musk’s status as his close ally.
Mr. Musk spent more than $250 million on the 2024 election, according to federal filings, and then immediately stepped in as a key part of Mr. Trump’s transition team. Few business executives are as closely associated with their products as Mr. Musk, so his rise in the world of far-right politics led to plenty of celebration among Trump-supporting Tesla owners, but plenty of consternation among those who disagreed with the move, or who had simply grown tired of Mr. Musk.
The solution, for many Tesla owners on both ends of that spectrum, has been to slap a bumper sticker on their car to let people know how they feel about Mr. Musk.
Mr. Hiller, who lives in Honolulu and works at the Waikiki Aquarium, became a key player in the situation by being ahead of the curve thanks to his side business: an Etsy shop called Mad Puffer Stickers.
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