# Why Doesn't Tesla Advertise on TV? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 27, 2016, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-tesla-advertise-on-tv/747304 "2016-02-27T16:09:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-tesla-advertise-on-tv/747304/21 "2016-03-01T19:06:32Z")
When they do advertise, I suspect they will do so locally in areas with many potential customers, like the Bay Area. (I see a Tesla nearly every day during my commute - which goes past the Tesla plant.) They also need to build distribution. They are using a company-owned dealer model, which is illegal in some states. BTW the fact that the OP is asking the question shows their publicity strategy is working. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-tesla-advertise-on-tv/747304/22 "2016-03-01T19:40:01Z")
> [@swampspruce](#): > > Also, slightly tongue in cheek, if you have to advertise on tv chances are good your product sucks in some way. > > There are a lot of products that sell quite well that don’t have TV ads or feel the need to use them. I don’t think that’s fair. You want to advertise when you have a lot of competition; you need to “sell” people on why your piece of junk is better than everyone else’s pieces of junk. I mean, it’s not for nothing Apple runs ads for the iPhone everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-tesla-advertise-on-tv/747304/23 "2016-03-01T21:26:16Z")
Lack of direct competition is a big piece (as others have already explained at length), but what I think is the biggest reason is the fact that pretty much anyone remotely interested in an electric car is already well aware of Tesla and what they do/what they make. So if you don’t have direct competitors, and your expected customer base is already well aware of you through whatever social media/viral/news release channels you’re using, why WOULD you shell out the cash for TV ads? ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-tesla-advertise-on-tv/747304/24 "2016-03-01T21:30:55Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Lack of direct competition is a big piece (as others have already explained at length), but what I think is the biggest reason is the fact that pretty much anyone remotely interested in an electric car is already well aware of Tesla and what they do/what they make. > > So if you don’t have direct competitors, and your expected customer base is already well aware of you through whatever social media/viral/news release channels you’re using, why WOULD you shell out the cash for TV ads? now when the Model 3 hits, it’ll be competing right up against the Chevy Bolt, so they might see value in advertising then. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-tesla-advertise-on-tv/747304/25 "2016-03-01T23:26:33Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > I don’t think that’s fair. You want to advertise when you have a lot of competition; you need to “sell” people on why your piece of junk is better than everyone else’s pieces of junk. I mean, it’s not for nothing Apple runs ads for the iPhone everywhere. Doesn’t that kind of prove my point, though? If you have to sell the snot out of something in order to differentiate your product, then you have not succeeded in making anything exceptional. The whole 3/Bolt thing may prove me wrong, but I suspect that when the Tesla 3 goes online, there won’t be a lot of traditional TV advertising behind it. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-tesla-advertise-on-tv/747304/26 "2016-03-01T23:53:52Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Nitpick: Morgan Motor Company. I consider myself chastised. I live not far from Malvern so I really should know better. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-tesla-advertise-on-tv/747304/27 "2016-03-02T13:58:16Z")
I went to Malvern College but the school is on the other side of town from the company. Most of what I know about it is from my dad, who used to sign up for the waiting list (it got as long as seven years in the late 1980s) and then sell his spot for a couple of grand when he got near the front of the queue. ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-tesla-advertise-on-tv/747304/28 "2016-03-02T23:11:58Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > Rich people don’t spend much time watching TV. > Super-Rich people don’t watch commercials. Came in here to say this- pick up trucks and minivans are advertised on TV. Luxury cars are not. Although if I were Elon Musk, I might look into an NPR advertising campaign as that is most overlapping media with the Tesla demographic. Or maybe the New Yorker? New York Times? but certainly not TV. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-tesla-advertise-on-tv/747304/29 "2016-03-02T23:16:36Z")
I don’t agree that “super-rich people don’t watch commercials.” Three or four years ago, I was watching The Good Wife and [this 210 second (3 1/2 minutes!) commercial for Cartier](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaBNjTtCxd4) aired. In case you’re not aware, Cartier is a high-end jeweler that competes in a completely different market than Jared or Kay Jewelers. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-tesla-advertise-on-tv/747304/30 "2016-03-03T03:25:44Z")
Even begging the question of whether any mass market firm — which has lost the cachet of exclusivity as much as any street-walker — is positioned to the wealthy rather than the earnest strivers who wish to join the upper classes, that doesn’t mean the extremely rich are watching. Some may be impressed with Swarovski crystals; not they\*. \* I have no time for Bill Gates or the Kochs, but I will do them the justice to assume they don’t spend their ever-dwindling life-span of incredible wealth slumped in front of the TV watching for infomercial bargains. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-tesla-advertise-on-tv/747304/31 "2016-03-03T04:55:57Z")
> [@Disheavel](#): > > Came in here to say this- pick up trucks and minivans are advertised on TV. Luxury cars are not. Although if I were Elon Musk, I might look into an NPR advertising campaign as that is most overlapping media with the Tesla demographic. Or maybe the New Yorker? New York Times? but certainly not TV. No. Audi, Mercedes, BMW, and Lexus at the least all advertise on TV. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-tesla-advertise-on-tv/747304/32 "2016-03-03T06:58:13Z")
> [@TSBG](#): > > No. Audi, Mercedes, BMW, and Lexus at the least all advertise on TV. And here’s an ad for the [Cadillac Escalade](http://www.ispot.tv/ad/7KC2/2015-cadillac-escalade-evolution-of-luxury-song-by-david-bowie)… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-tesla-advertise-on-tv/747304.md?page=1)