Tesla owners: Good news! Your car has a secret Mario-Kart-style mode that enables flashing lights and loud music, announced by none other than Tesla chief executive Elon Musk himself. Now, if you could just stare at the “psychedelic cowbell road” on the dash and not pay attention to the news of a mass product recall that broke (more quietly) just two hours later, that would be great.
Yes, Musk is a crafty one. Stirring up fanboy nostalgia, the new “psychedelic cowbell road” trick allows Model S drivers to engage what looks like Rainbow Road straight out of Nintendo’s Mario Kart on the car’s in-dash display of the road ahead.
The car also starts playing a tune recorded by Will Ferrell and Christopher Walken from the US comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live, where he plays cowbells poking fun at the Blue Öyster Cult’s (Don’t Fear) The Reaper; the same sketch that spawned the US pop culture catchphrase “more cowbell”.
Activate autopilot 4X in quick succession for psychedelic cowbell road. And, yes, we are adding more cowbell soon.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 11, 2016
Fans instantly jumped on the PR fun triggering the Model S’s self-driving autopilot mode four times and shooting videos of the in-car display with much cowbell frivolity.
When @elonmusk promises more cowbell, he means it. Feels like Mario Kart Rainbow Road in here: https://t.co/5i7kLSYVk3
— Brian Stucki (@brianstucki) April 11, 2016
Meanwhile, news of the company’s 2,700 Model X recall over a faulty locking hinge in the third-row of seats broke, showing the dangers of getting a large-scale car roll out right, such as that faced by Tesla with the Model 3 and its more than 325,000 pre-orders.
Tesla is no stranger to recalls. The company was forced to recall 90,000 Model S cars in November over a possible front seat belt assembly defect. Another problem in 2014 that saw 29,222 Model S cars recalled over a charging defect. Recalls appear to be quite common for cars, however, with Volvo recalling 59,000 cars, Vauxhall recalling 220,000 cars and Toyota recalling 6.5m cars in a similar timeframe.
While Tesla was calling cars back in and fixing issues, it was also rolling out hidden in-jokes from the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Space Balls and James Bond. At some point, you have to ask: are these easter eggs, or distraction tactics?
