'0 to 1939 in 3 secs': Why anti-Musk satire is flourishing in Britain

By Michael D Shear 

On the side of an East London bus stop, one of them shows Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, emerging from a Tesla’s roof with his hand pointing upward in a straight-armed salute. “Goes from 0 to 1939 in 3 seconds”,  the ad reads. “Tesla. 

The Swasticar”. 

Another mock ad shows Musk and US President Trump in front of a red Tesla with the words: “Now With White Power Steering”. In North London, a fake movie billboard blares: “The Fast and the Führer”, with a picture of Musk saluting beside a Tesla with a DOGE licence plate, a reference to the budget-slashing federal agency he currently leads on behalf of  Trump. “Parental Guidance”, warns the billboard, put up by a group calling itself Overthrow Musk. “Tesla’s CEO is a Far-Right activist. Don’t give him your money”. 

Across the British capital and in several European cities, Musk’s signature business has become the target of the same kind of political anger that has fuelled vandalism of Tesla cars in the US and sometimes violent protests at his dealerships. 

There have been some instances of unruly protests and vandalism in Europe. But much of the anti-Musk sentiment has taken the form of political satire, of the kind that has flourished in Britain since at least the 18th century. 

Just outside Berlin, a group called the Center for Political Beauty used high-power lights to project the word “Heil” onto the side of a Tesla factory so that it read “Heil Tesla”, along with a picture of Musk saluting during a speech in Washington. In Italy, street art depicts Elon Musk taking off a mask to show Adolf Hitler’s face underneath. The words “Elon Mask” appear above the picture. 

“There’s never been a target exactly like this,” said John Gorenfeld, a software engineer who helped start a London-based group called “Takedown Tesla”. “Nobody who is that rich and powerful has behaved that outrageously”. 

In Europe, Musk is not just a faraway example of American wealth and power. Over the last year, he has become a frequent political meddler, often weighing in on behalf of Far-Right causes on X, his social media platform, where he has 218 million followers. In Britain, Musk is known for sharing misinformation about a child rape scandal and calling for Prime Minister Keir Starmer to be jailed.   Theodora Sutcliffe, a London resident who helped organise Tesla Takedown, said none of the people she works with are participating in violence. 

Instead, they have sought to find other ways to capture public attention. 

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)