KOMPAS.com – CEO Tesla Elon Musk participated in spreading misinformation about the price of fuel oil (BBM) at a 7-Eleven outlet in the United States.
In June 2022, fuel prices worldwide has increased due to various factors.
On social media, photos circulated showing the price of fuel at a 7-Eleven outlet in the United States reaching 7.11 US dollars per gallon (3.7 liters).
Elon Musk also uploaded the photo via his Twitter account on June 21, 2022 without any description.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 21, 2022
Although the photo is genuine, it was taken in March 2021, not June 2022.
In addition, the price of 7.11 US dollars listed is the “trial price” for promotional purposes for the opening of new 7-Eleven outlets, not the actual price.
Photo taken March 2021
Quoted from the fact-checker page Snopes.comthe photo was originally uploaded on the forum online Reddit in March 2021 by user u/mbeemsterboer.
Following caption original photo:
“This new 7-Eleven (outlet) is testing petrol price.”
In the comments section, one Reddit user shared some additional information about the photo:
“This is not the actual price. That was before the gas station opened, they only displayed 7.11 (price) so that their signboard worked before opening.”
According to 7-Eleven, it is not uncommon for 7-Eleven outlets to display a gasoline price of 7.11 US dollars ahead of new store openings.
“This photo is over a year old. Previously, building contractors used to test the fuel price tag at the newly built, but unopened 7-Eleven site, to 7.11 US dollars to match the shop name,” a company spokesman said.
“We have asked building contractors to stop this practice and hope this recently reissued photo does not cause confusion for 7-Eleven customers,” he said.
Photo uploader shocked because the photo went viral
The photo of the 7.11 US dollar petrol price at 7-Elevel was taken by Matt Beemsterboer (34) who then uploaded it on Reddit using the u/mbeemsterboer account in March 2021.
To NPRBeemsterboer admitted that he was surprised that the photo he took went viral and was even re-shared by Elon Musk.
He also told the reason behind taking the photo.
In March 2021, Beemsterboer was walking about three blocks from his Chicago home when he saw a Car Gas Station being rebuilt as a 7-Eleven gas station.
“So they looked like they were setting it up, and the pump was still not working and the shop was still being built. They put up that price tag, and they only listed the price at $7.11. And I thought that was kind of funny,” said Beemsterboer.
According to the GasBuddy page, which compiles gasoline prices from gas stations in the US, the price of gasoline at the viral 7-Eleven outlet is now 6.09 US dollars per gallon as of June 21, 2022.
Until now, Elon Musk has not commented on the tweet that uploaded the photo.
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