Elon Musk has responded to a Super Bowl advert that show Tesla cars in not the most positive light.
The long-awaited Super Bowl finally took place yesterday (February 12) and was certainly not short of buzz.
Advert
From former US president Donald Trump's critique of Rihanna's half-time show performance to Drake placing bets on the games risking up to $1 million - there has been plenty of drama.
But the latest follows Elon Musk, CEO and product architect of Tesla, firing back at one Californian tech entrepreneur who's campaign seeks to ban Tesla's planned full self-driving cars.
Tesla's official website calls the phenomenon: "Autopilot and Full Self-Driving Capability."
Advert
According to the car manufacturer, this self-driving feature, also dubbed an 'advanced driver system', will actually 'enhance safety' as well as convenience.
"When used properly," the website explains, "Autopilot reduces your overall workload as a driver."
Yet one person was fairly vocal about their disagreement with the new feature in the form of a very detailed advert.
Dan O'Dowd shared the advert to Twitter.
Advert
The advert, just 30-seconds long, shows a Tesla pull up on a suburban street, with the words 'full self-driving' appearing over the screen.
As the Tesla is driving through along the road, a mannequin child is being slowly pulled by a string into the road.
And within seconds, the vehicle crashes straight into the model child.
The next scene shows a shaky driver plough the car into two pushchairs on the road.
Advert
Then, to highlight the apparent issues with the self-driving feature, it then shows the car by-pass multiple stop signs nearby a high school bus.
Finishing off the sequence, the car can finally be seen crashing into - you guessed it - another mannequin child.
The short video ends with the text: "Why does NHTSA allow Tesla full self-driving?"
O'Dowd captioned the tweet: "Watch The Dawn Project’s #SuperBowl ad demonstrate critical safety defects in Tesla
Advert
Full Self-Driving.
"6 months ago we reported FSD would run down a child. Tesla hasn't even fixed that! To focus their attention, NHTS must turn off FSD until Tesla fixes all safety defects."
An account called Tesla Owners Silicon Valley shared the advert in a tweet, writing: "Thank you @RealDanODowd for spending $7M for this $tsla advertisement. It’s very clear that you testing was fake but grateful for spreading the word that Teslas are the leader for general autonomy."
Clearly not phased by O'Dowd's graphic safety advert, however, Musk also hit back with a more short but to-the-point reply.
The billionaire directly replied to the tweet with nothing more than a laughing emoji.
Musk's tweet, only posted yesterday, has since amassed over 1.4 million views.
UNILAD has reached out to Tesla for comment.
Topics: Elon Musk, Celebrity, Tesla, Super Bowl