Tesla Will Give You A Model Y — If You Make The Best Fan Ad

Electric vehicle giant Tesla Inc TSLA is well-known for not spending much on advertising over the years, relying instead on strong word-of-mouth recommendations from its customers and fans.

The company is holding a contest with its customers and fans for a video ad it could use in the future.

What Happened: Tesla is launching a new contest called TeslaVision, asking fans to submit videos of what the EV company means to them. This move comes as demand and delivery figures for the company are falling.

"The TeslaVision contest is a global celebration and showcase of the owners and fans who have always recognized the true value and impact of our products – both now and for the future," Tesla said.

To participate in the contest, Tesla fans need to submit a video 90 seconds or less in length that shows "how Tesla vehicles give you more in your life—more freedom, more safety, more fun, more convenience."

Tesla said finalists will be selected based on creativity, relevance, originality, and entertainment value. Entries must be in by July 17, 2025.

From the finalists, the grand prize winner will receive a free Tesla Model Y vehicle and an all-expenses-paid trip to Gigafactory Texas, where the winner will receive a private tour.

The second and third-place finishers will also receive all-expenses paid trips to Gigafactory Texas for private tours.

Tesla will select the top 100 videos and have the general public vote on 10 finalists. Judges may consider the public vote when choosing a winner.

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Why It's Important: Tesla did a similar fan video contest in 2017, collecting videos from fans around the world.

Contestants of the new contest have to upload their video to YouTube and share a viewable URL and also make a post on X and Instagram where they tag Tesla.

This means that each video entered into the contest will be a free public advertisement for the electric vehicle company. Entries also release their rights to the submitted content and allow Tesla to use it for commercial purposes.

Anyone submitting their video could see Tesla use it as an ad in the future without compensation other than potentially winning the contest. For many Tesla fans, this may be enough. For Tesla, this could be an easy way to avoid paying advertising agencies or a marketing team to create video ads.

After laying off its marketing team last year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk admitted that the team’s advertisements didn't impress him.

"The ads were far too generic – could've been any car," Musk tweeted.

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