At least five of Tesla’s competitors bought ad time during Saturday Night Live hosted by Elon Musk, using the billionaire’s appearance to sell their own. non-Tesla EVs.

Commercials for the Audi E-tron, Ford Mustang Mach-E, Volkswagen ID 4, and Lucid Air all aired within the first 30 minutes of SNL. Lucid Motors, a company founded by Peter Rawlinson, the former head engineer of the Tesla Model S who frequently clashes with Musk, teased its commercial earlier in the week. It was its debut commercial for the Lucid Air, a claimed 500-mile EV due later this year.

In his opening monologue, Musk noted he’s the guy who made electric vehicles popular. The commercials were intended to remind the audience that Tesla isn’t the only name in the game anymore.

It wasn’t just EV companies either. According to Adweek, Sierra Space, a rival of Musk’s SpaceX, purchased several spots that will run on YouTube clips of Musk’s appearance on SNL. The company is also targeting non-SNL Musk clips on the platform.

We’ll update this post if more related commercials air.

https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/9/22426978/elon-musk-snl-electric-vehicle-commercials-tesla-saturday-night-live