Plane flies brutal four-word Tesla message aimed at Elon Musk
On Tuesday, a small plane flew over downtown Austin and the Capitol building, trailing a banner that deviated from its usual advertisements to read:
"Save Tesla, Fire Musk."
For four hours, the plane flew around the city, where the
world's wealthiest individual
has a 14,400-square-foot estate built for several of his thirteen children and their mothers, and where Tesla, his electric vehicle company, is located.
It was seemingly intended to happen that way, as the anti-Musk sentiment appeared on the day of
Tesla's much-anticipated Q1 earnings call.
After the company's stock plummeted by more than 40 percent from its 2024 high amid backlash over Musk's role in the Trump administration, some shareholders called for Musk to step down from his DOGE duties, while others called for him to step down as CEO.
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The earnings report showed that Tesla brought in 20 percent less revenue than it did this time last year. Justin Jaye, the owner of FlySigns.com, a national aerial-banner company based in Austin, told
Texas
Monthly he could neither confirm nor deny that his business was responsible for the job. But he did add that he had 'detailed information about the job itself.'
The client, who reportedly made the request late last week, specified that the company should fly the message directly over Tesla's headquarters in the city's eastern section and remain there for four hours. The cost to fly the banner amounted to $2,800—the standard rate, Jaye remarked, typically between $650 and $700 per hour.
Elon Musk speaks during a town hall Sunday, March 30, 2025, in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
(Image: AP)
Jaye worried the sign's attention might attract partisan politics. However, he says he doesn't typically care about his clients' beliefs—he's just the messenger.
'I just take the message of where they want it, when they want it, and we go out and do 'em,' adding,
'We're a big First Amendment supporter. If [the banner] was pro-Elon, we'd do it. If it was anti-Elon, we'd do it.'
Although print media advertising has declined in the digital era, Jaye noted that aerial advertising is stronger than ever.
'You can't turn it off. You can't pause it. You can't fast-forward it; you can't delete it. You can't change the radio station on it,' he said.
'It's in your face, and people actually go out of their way to see what the sign says.'
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