- As Tesla CEO Elon Musk becomes more politically entangled, some Tesla owners are distancing themselves from him by purchasing anti-Musk bumper stickers. It has created a booming business for Matthew Hiller, whose sales surged after Musk’s public support for Trump. Meanwhile, Tesla shareholders are divided on Musk’s leadership. Some are praising his recent efforts to refocus on the company while others argue he has neglected Tesla in favor of his government role.
Tesla might be big business, but it turns out making anti-Elon Musk bumper stickers for the EVs is also a pretty lucrative side-hustle. Since President Trump’s inauguration, and particularly in the past few weeks, Tesla has been targeted by protestors who have variously thrown Molotov cocktails at vehicles in Las Vegas, fired gunshots at a showroom in Portland, Oregon, and set charging points on fire in Boston.
As the lead for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Tesla CEO Musk has overseen a host of controversial decisions, such as winding up USAID, the foreign aid agency, and the firing—and rehiring —of 24,000 federal workers.
In a bid to distance themselves from Musk and his political beliefs—and save their vehicles from being vandalized—Tesla drivers have turned to bumper stickers to make their opinions known.
Matthew Hiller, 47, began selling Tesla-themed bumper stickers online in January 2023, but said demand really took off following the election.
Stickers from his business, MadPufferStickers, offer slogans such as “I bought this before Elon went crazy” and “Elon cheats at video games.”
After two years of fairly average sales, things began to pick up. Now the business is raking in $4,500 in sales of anti-Musk merch on a busy day. In the past month sales from Amazon alone are approximately $89,000—before sales from eBay and Etsy (where the Tesla stickers were first made available) are added in.
Hiller told MarketWatch he first came up with the idea of Tesla stickers after considering purchasing one of the vehicles for himself, but wasn’t keen on the idea of supporting the richest man on the planet.
“I made the decision to not support this guy and thought there had to be more people watching this unfold like me who had already bought a Tesla and wanted to distance themselves from him,” Hiller explained.
Hiller, who works in an aquarium in Honolulu, had already been making and selling stickers depicting the likes of angler fish and seahorses. Creating a Tesla sticker wasn’t difficult.
Initially Hiller said he thought people wouldn’t be able to find a Tesla sticker among his aquatic offerings, but that all changed when Musk officially backed the then-Republican nominee in October last year.
“The moment [Musk] went on stage with Trump for the first time, that was a big moment,” Hiller added to MarketWatch. “Interest picked up there. And the day after Trump won [the election], another huge chunk of sales. And then [Musk’s controversial ] salute around the inauguration. That is what changed it from 300 [sales] a day to 500 a day, overnight.”
Hiller added he won’t be quitting his job to spend more time on the sticker business, but may create other bumper stickers relating to viral news events.
Tesla shareholder thoughts
If Tesla drivers are split on their opinions of Musk it seems so too are the company’s shareholders.
For example, Tesla bull Dan Ives declared that Musk, worth $336 billion, is “back in charge” at the business after he led an all-hands meeting this week.
“Musk stepped up last week with the all-hands meeting, and that sent a much-needed positive signal to employees and investors,” Ives, a Wedbush analyst, told Fortune. “The stock was way oversold and is bouncing as Musk is back in charge and trying to balance DOGE [the Department of Government Efficiency] and Tesla.”
This is in contrast to longtime investor Ross Gerber, who declared a week ago it was time for Musk to step aside and find a “suitable CEO” to lead the brand.
“There’s no question [Musk] has been committed to his job at the government, that’s where he’s spending his time. He is not running Tesla,” Gerber told Sky News. “I think Tesla needs a new CEO and I decided today I was going to start saying it… It’s time for somebody to run Tesla. The business has been neglected for too long.”
At the time of writing Tesla’s share price is $286.50, down 24% for the year to date.
