The world’s marketing community is talking excitedly about this incident.

This week can be said to be a bad time for electric car manufacturer Tesla. Not only did this company announce disappointing business results, but they also faced a Cybertruck recall due to errors. 

As a result, they had to announce a layoff of 10% of the total workforce worldwide (about 14,000 people). Worth mentioning, in this round of layoffs, Tesla decided to fire all product marketing staff after only 4 months of establishment.

Until now, Tesla has been famous as a company that says no to advertising and marketing of products. However, last year, CEO Elon Musk suddenly announced that Tesla would “try advertising a little and see what the results are”. 

However, it seems that the results are not as expected and currently Elon Musk has just fired the entire “Content Development” department (Growth Content) in the US. This department, which is in charge of product marketing issues, has about 40 employees and is led by senior manager Alex Ingram.

In an X post, one user said Tesla “could have done better advertising”. Musk immediately responded: “Yes, the ad is too general – it could be any car.”

The cuts to the entire marketing department mark a retreat from Tesla’s fledgling advertising initiatives. The automaker has long shied away from advertising on television, radio, print or online – and has built a formidable brand largely through word of mouth.

However, investors are increasingly calling on Musk to focus more on marketing as global electric vehicle sales growth slows and more competitors enter the market. 

Tesla’s involvement in advertising also coincides with Musk’s acquisition of Twitter. The social media platform has sought to stem a sharp decline in advertising revenue, fueled by major brands’ displeasure over content moderation and Musk’s own sometimes controversial posts.

Now, Tesla hopes to find new ways to attract new buyers to the brand, which is facing a barrage of negative press. This week, the company is grappling with an embarrassing recall of its flagship Cybertruck product due to a faulty accelerator pedal. The company also plans an affordable model, which could lure reluctant EV adopters on board.

It’s unclear where Tesla’s future advertising direction will go and whether Elon Musk will continue to “try a little” with marketing efforts. 

Theo: BI, Fortune