Two Super Bowl ads calling to "boycott Tesla" aired this Sunday in time when Elon Musk and his son were watching the match.
Musk has been spotted during the Super Bowl LVIII match between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs where two ad campaigns calling for people to boycott Musk's company are set to air at halftime.
The anti-Tesla ads were part of "The Dawn Project" launched by one of Musk's biggest critics, the California tech billionaire Dan O'Dowd.
O'Dowd pulled a similar stunt during the Super Bowl game last year to stop people from putting "money in Elon's pocket and funds his dangerous self-driving experiments."
According to the group, this year's ad campaign cost $552,000, a bit lower than the previous year's $598,000 ad buy.
With hundreds of millions of people watching each Super Bowl game, its halftime ads are one of the effective methods companies use to promote their products to a large audience.
Due to its influence, a single 30-second ad during a game can estimated to rack up to $7 million. The prices could balloon depending on the time slot when the ad is aired.
Tesla and Musk has yet to comment on the ad campaign.
Why is a Billionaire Calling to Boycott Tesla?
In a CNN report, O'Dowd claims "The Dawn Project" as an initiative to ensure the safety of software systems for humanity, in which Tesla's Full Self-Driving feature fails to meet.
According to O'Dowd, Musk and Tesla "failed time and time again" to address its "defective self-driving software" amid increasing concerns for its safety measures for both drivers and pedestrians.
The group last year produced one ad showing a Tesla vehicle supposedly using its self-driving feature to run over a child-sized dummy and a baby stroller.
Tesla Full Self-Driving Cars Still on 'Beta'
As of writing, Tesla's Full Self-Driving feature is still officially in "beta" development with the only available driving assistance features currently on the market equipped with limitations and warning systems.
However, it is worth noting that Tesla's Autopilot assistant has indeed been reported to be involved in several road accidents with some resulting in injuries and fatalities.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is still investigating the safety features of the electric automaker's self-driving software.
