SpaceX has bought ad space on Twitter, according to the latter’s internal records, which were seen by CNBC. It comes as many top brands pull their ads from the platform. The ad package that SpaceX has bought usually costs more than $250,000 and allows a company to put their brand at the top of the Twitter timeline for the whole day.
SpaceX is set to advertise its Starlink products first in Australia and then in Spain, according to the documents. Apparently, it’s not typical of SpaceX to buy ad space from Twitter, but given that they now share the same CEO, this type of thing could become a bit more common. Presumably, Twitter users in the two target countries will be encouraged to get a subscription to Starlink.
While CEO Elon Musk would probably prefer to be getting $250,000 in ad revenue from companies he doesn’t own, this move has two benefits for the company. Firstly, SpaceX paying Twitter means SpaceX is essentially getting free advertising as it doesn’t have to pay a third-party company. Secondly, Twitter gets to show off its advertising offerings, which could persuade other brands to take out ad space on the platform again.
Brands that have pulled their advertisements from the platform, citing content moderation under Elon’s leadership, include General Motors, Audi, Volkswagen, General Mills, Pfizer, and United Airlines. An interesting note here is that General Motors, Audi, and Volkswagen are all direct competitors to Elon’s other company, Tesla. The latest move could be Elon trying to show brands that Twitter is a good enough platform for SpaceX to advertise on, and therefore they should come back and advertise there too.
Source: CNBC