Tesla’s rival electric car firms attempted to one-up Elon Musk during his debut appearance on Saturday Night Live by plugging their adverts in the show’s commercial breaks.
Three automakers aired electric vehicle adverts within the opening half an hour of the show on Saturday, USA Today reported.
Musk, whose Saturday appearance marked his first hosting stint on the show, is the CEO of his own American electric vehicle and clean energy company, Tesla.
Lucid Motors, Ford and Volkswagen were all seen boasting their electric models, in an apparent bid to build on the hype of Musk’s appearance.
Lucid, a newcomer to the electric vehicle game, advertised the Lucid Air, a battery-powered luxury sedan.
Recommended
Ford and Volkswagen advertised their respective electric SUVs, the Mustang Mach-E and the VW ID4.
Musk, however, has always refrained from going out of his way to advertise Tesla products having said previously that the brand is already enough in demand.
"Tesla does not advertise or pay for endorsements. Instead, we use that money to make the product great," Musk said in 2019.
The CEO made his debut as host of the talk show on Saturday with the 18th episode of this 46th season with his performance receiving a mixed reaction from viewers.
The announcement that Musk would host the show was met with controversy with critics saying he only landed the job due to his lavish fortune.
Some viewers called his hosting effort on Saturday “surreal” while others said that the comedy in the skits was “awful”.
