Despite what all of the headlines about the Unsworth v Musk trial say, Musk was the big loser here. Here’s why, he lost the PR battle and he’s losing fans because of it.
For at least a week straight there were non-stop headlines that portrayed Elon Musk as a shallow billionaire who tried to hijack a disaster for some free PR. Then when he was called out by the real hero on the ground in Thailand, he insults the man in a horrific way. Who didn’t read all about this case and come away thinking that Musk was a small man with a big ego?
If Musk had built up any reserve of goodwill amongst the press, he just needlessly squandered a great deal of it. Why on earth did he ever allow this to go to trial? Exactly the opposite of what Musk desired, happened. He got a ton of bad PR. Someone has to get the message through to Musk that his list of defenders is shrinking.
And just the opposite happened to Unsworth. I didn’t even realize the extent of Unsworth’s utility in the heroic rescue of those kids in the cave. Most people who paid any attention to the trial came away thinking more highly of Verne Unsworth. Those kids caught an amazing break that there was someone on the ground there who knew that cave system. Unsworth came out of this trial a bigger hero than before it began.
It’s important to note that when the jury declared Musk was the winner, they didn’t say that Musk wasn’t a creep. They simply said that a thin-skinned CEO threw out a petty insult versus accomplishing his aim of full-blown defamation. Defamation would’ve required something more serious like planting false stories in the press or paying false witnesses. A thief who steals diamonds from a department store is still a thief if they turn out to be cubic zirconias. It just hasn’t risen to the level of grand larceny.
Musk didn’t get pinned with defamation but the whole world was either reminded who he really is or came to see it for the first time. He’s an arrogant SOB who thinks the rules don’t apply to him. That is bad PR of the worst kind. Making matters worse, he insulted a hero from Great Britain who helped with a rescue in Thailand. Musk also made America look bad to a global audience.
Now more than ever, everyone thinks Musk is a creep. After all, this is the guy who dared Unsworth to sue…so that the whole world would find out about his pedophilia. Over-promise and under-deliver, that is Musk in all aspects. If you’re investing in Musk, you might want to think about that.
If Musk had built up any reserve of goodwill amongst the press, he just needlessly squandered a great deal of it. Why on earth did he ever allow this to go to trial? Exactly the opposite of what Musk desired, happened. He got a ton of bad PR. Someone has to get the message through to Musk that his list of defenders is shrinking.
And just the opposite happened to Unsworth. I didn’t even realize the extent of Unsworth’s utility in the heroic rescue of those kids in the cave. Most people who paid any attention to the trial came away thinking more highly of Verne Unsworth. Those kids caught an amazing break that there was someone on the ground there who knew that cave system. Unsworth came out of this trial a bigger hero than before it began.
It’s important to note that when the jury declared Musk was the winner, they didn’t say that Musk wasn’t a creep. They simply said that a thin-skinned CEO threw out a petty insult versus accomplishing his aim of full-blown defamation. Defamation would’ve required something more serious like planting false stories in the press or paying false witnesses. A thief who steals diamonds from a department store is still a thief if they turn out to be cubic zirconias. It just hasn’t risen to the level of grand larceny.
Musk didn’t get pinned with defamation but the whole world was either reminded who he really is or came to see it for the first time. He’s an arrogant SOB who thinks the rules don’t apply to him. That is bad PR of the worst kind. Making matters worse, he insulted a hero from Great Britain who helped with a rescue in Thailand. Musk also made America look bad to a global audience.
Now more than ever, everyone thinks Musk is a creep. After all, this is the guy who dared Unsworth to sue…so that the whole world would find out about his pedophilia. Over-promise and under-deliver, that is Musk in all aspects. If you’re investing in Musk, you might want to think about that.
RSS Feed