Ads During Super Bowl Highlight Risks of Self-Driving Cars
If you were watching this year’s Super Bowl in California, Delaware, Michigan, or Washington D.C., you may have noticed a series of ads about Tesla. No, the ads weren’t promoting Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company. On the contrary, the ads were specifically calling for viewers to “Boycott Tesla.” The ads were created by The Dawn Project, an organization backed by tech entrepreneur Dan O’Dowd, who is a longtime critic of Tesla.
The Dawn Project’s website focuses heavily on criticizing Tesla, and their Super Bowl ads were no exception. The organization paid half a million dollars to air the “Boycott Tesla” ads in targeted markets during the Super Bowl. Last year, The Dawn Project also ran anti-Tesla ads during the Super Bowl, highlighting how tests found that Tesla’s self-driving software resulted in the vehicle ignoring school bus stop signs and hitting child-sized crash test dummies.
This year, The Dawn Project didn’t have to reference a test scenario to make their point. Just months after last year’s ad aired, a Tesla using Autopilot struck a 17-year-old in North Carolina as he was getting off his bus. The incident mirrored the scenario shown in The Dawn Project’s previous ad. The organization highlighted this real-life incident in one of its two Super Bowl ads this year.
The second ad from The Dawn Project draws attention to the owner’s manual for Tesla, which states where it is safe to engage Autopilot. The ad points out that the government has requested that Tesla limit Autopilot use only to freeways, noting that Tesla refused to comply. The ad then references fatal accidents involving Tesla vehicles that were using Autopilot at the time of their crash.
Tesla fans often question the credibility of The Dawn Project due to O’Dowd’s business partnership with another company, Mobileye, which makes competing autonomous driving software. However, regardless of the messenger’s intentions, The Dawn Project’s ads reference real-life events and highlight the company’s alleged disregard for safety precautions.
Conclusion
The ads during this year’s Super Bowl brought attention to the risks associated with self-driving cars, specifically targeting Tesla. The Dawn Project, backed by tech entrepreneur Dan O’Dowd, ran “Boycott Tesla” ads in several markets, urging viewers to reconsider supporting the electric vehicle company. The ads referenced real-life incidents and raised concerns about Tesla’s Autopilot technology and its alleged refusal to follow government recommendations. While critics question the messenger’s motivations, the ads bring to light important safety considerations in the realm of self-driving cars.