--- title: "Elon Musk, Who Always Hated Ads, Suddenly Says He Loves Ads Now That He Owns a Site That Depends on Them" description: "Show Me the Money After bumbling into Twitter's headquarters wielding a sink yesterday and beaming at employees who are probably going to get laid off by his own hands, Elon Musk has taken to his personal Twitter account to assure the All Important Advertisers that don't worry, he actually wants their money. \"Dear Twitter Advertisers,\" […]" date: "2022-10-27" modified: "2022-10-27" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-says-loves-ads" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "advertising" - "elon musk" - "the digest" - "twitter" --- # Elon Musk, Who Always Hated Ads, Suddenly Says He Loves Ads Now That He Owns a Site That Depends on Them ![Elon Musk, famously against advertising and known for his company Tesla's supposed zero dollar marketing strategy, now has a change of heart on ads.]() *\Image: Elon Musk via Twitter\* ## Show Me the Money After bumbling into Twitter's headquarters [wielding a sink]() yesterday and beaming at employees he [reportedly intends to lay off](), SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has taken to his personal Twitter account to assure the All Important Advertisers that don't worry, he still wants their money. "Dear Twitter Advertisers," the [tweet]() is captioned, with the rest of the text captured in screenshots. "I also very much believe that advertising, when done right, can delight, entertain and inform you," Musk wrote. "It can show you a service or product or medical treatment that you never knew existed, but is right for you." But that was only after burying the lede beneath toothless promises about "upholding a digital town square" — in the service of the lofty goal of, well, showing people ads on the internet. "For this to be true," Musk continued, "it is essential to show Twitter users advertising that is as relevant as possible to their needs. Low relevancy ads are spam, but highly relevant ads are actually content!" ## Two-Faced It's a striking about face, since Elon's always been against advertising, at least publicly. "I hate advertising," he [tweeted in 2019](). In addition, his fans have always made a big deal out of Tesla's $0 marketing strategy, in which the automaker doesn't put out traditional advertisements or commercials. Given the amount of pull Musk has on social media, it's not hard to understand why he and Tesla have, at least so far, forgone putting out ads. Instead, he simply uses his own Twitter account as a giant advertising platform, which technically doesn't cost anything. Of course, when advertising is his main source of revenue for his soon-to-be-acquired social media platform, it's suddenly a good thing. A very good thing. "Fundamentally," Musk concludes in the recent tweet, "Twitter aspires to be the most respected advertising platform in the world that strengthens your brand and grows your enterprise." *Fundamentally*, he says. So does Musk actually care about making twitter a "digital town square" that is "important to the future of civilization," or does he just want it to be a glorified billboard? Either way, groveling at the feet of advertisers in a public tweet ahead of his acquisition of the platform is a pretty weak look. **More on Elon Musk:** *[Elon Musk Spotted Carrying Sink Into Twitter Headquarters]()* ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()