Bulletproof window broken: Failed cybertruck presentation is a stroke of luck for Tesla | 09.05.20

After the bulletproof glass turned out to be not so bulletproof last year when the cyber truck was presented, Tesla boss Elon Musk comments.

• Video and memes of the failed presentation made the rounds
• Tesla also makes a joke out of it – was it all just a PR trick?
• Musk does not confirm the PR trick: he was probably very surprised

The automaker Tesla advertised the Cybertruck as bulletproof when it was launched last autumn Elon Musk and Tesla’s chief designer Franz von Holzhausen then present the bulletproofness of the “Armor” glass: von Holzhausen threw an approximately fist-sized metal ball onto a pane of the cyber truck. The disc failed to withstand the throw and broke, and he then discussed with Musk to try a second disc – which also broke.

Memes of the Tesla fail quickly emerged

The failed presentation of bullet safety can be seen in a YouTube video, it has more than nine million views. Memes about the fail on the Internet quickly emerged.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q3uaepRCl4

This increased the attention that the new Tesla model received enormously: Press and memes also brought the new cyber truck into the consciousness of people who would probably have been less interested in the electric truck without the mishap.
After the presentation in autumn, Elon Musk tweeted a video of the successful test the evening before.

Tesla Marketing: T-shirts with the breakage of the pane printed on it

After it became apparent that memes and videos of the fail were well received and the attention that the cybertruck received increased significantly, Tesla used the mishap himself for marketing purposes. A t-shirt with the disc broken was printed and sold in the United States for $ 35 a piece.

The campaign with the T-shirts was seen by many as proof that it was a planned PR trick – although it doesn’t look like it on the videos circulating on the Internet: Musk and von Holzhausen looked very surprised.

Tesla boss Musk “shocked that it didn’t work”

Musk not only tweeted a video of the successful test, but also the reason why the panes no longer proved to be bulletproof when presented: the evening test showed that the glass was bulletproof – but a small corner could have been damaged, that was not discovered. As a result, according to Musk, the pane was not as stable the next day and broke.

Speaking to the Hack Club – an organization that teaches students to program in high schools – Musk said, “Franz and I both threw the ball on the window before the event, so it was very shocking that it didn’t work.” as reported by electrek. But he also said: “[Der Fail] got a lot of attention, so I think it wasn’t that bad at all. We can repeat it at any time. ”

The electric cyber truck will probably not be available until the end of 2021 at the earliest – but according to electrek, more than half a million reservations have already been made for the cyber truck.

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