This past week, Musk has once again made huge waves, this time during a test flight of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket. The launch itself was a success, sending the most powerful rocket in operation blasting through the atmosphere. As amazing as a feat it may have been, the SpaceX CEO proceeded to one-up himself, in a stunt to help promote one of his other brands, Tesla Motors.
After the the launch shown above, Musk surprised everybody when instead of seeing the typical hunk of metal used in test launches,we saw his personal cherry red Tesla roadster, being "driven" by a mannequin outfitted in a SpaceX jumpsuit. The car will continue its journey by orbiting around the sun, eventually venturing as far away as Mars
Even though Tesla's marketing strategy has been continuously praised for its innovation and success(they claim to spend $0 annually on marketing/advertising) this is like nothing we have ever seen before. The space car demonstrates an expert case of cross brand promotion, as well as viral marketing that seems to have everybody talking about it. Not only were there large scale discussions on multiple social media platforms, but Musk supplied a livestream of Starman, and is even being tracked by NASA. Elon Musk may have claimed the car idea was just something silly, but it has received grand praise, and even seen as something that will be remembered forever, especially if the car does stay in space for billions of years.
With all this being said, and with how much I am in awe of his technological breakthroughs, I am still heavily conflicted on Elon Musk. Between his previous ties with trump, the union busting at his Tesla factory, and his weird interest in flamethrowers, it is tough to pinpoint what he truly is trying to accomplish. Thoughts?
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