Was Elon Musk ever actually cool? At one point, long ago, he was respected enough to score a cameo in Iron Man 2, the guy then primarily known for Space X joking around with Tony Stark. In the last few years, though, we’ve come to learn way too much about him, including what he finds funny. Lo and behold, it turns out he’s a dork’s idea of a cool dude. For example, what in heavens is this?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 9, 2024
On Tuesday, the world’s richest person dropped a truly gobsmacking new promo for the social media service he purchased for way too much money two Novembers ago. With computer graphics that wouldn’t pass muster in a mid-aughts installment of Elder Scrolls, it shows a panther with neon purple stripes and flashlight eyeballs hurtling towards the viewer. Once there, it slashes the screen, revealing the new name of the company that no one but him uses.
Did Musk think this neon panther was rad? He 1000% did. There is no chance that Musk didn’t think it was the sickest thing he’d ever seen. He probably thought others would agree. Alas, others did not.
And so, once again, the guy who wants to put gizmos in people’s brains got trolled on his own social media platform. A lot of people made old-timey computer/video game jokes.
PS 1 tombraider cutscene ass https://t.co/mW5ZqDFLBt
— alex goldman (@AGoldmund) January 9, 2024
Elon has the same taste as a teenage Call of Duty YouTuber circa 2015 https://t.co/TaDcgqhehy
— Will (@WilliamD1123) January 9, 2024
Fake video game gameplay in the background of a Law and Order episode https://t.co/irrkIEz0hC
— Soundgarten Of BanBan (@AnimeSerbia) January 9, 2024
cool tekken 3 cutscene. are you going to post lightgun footage next https://t.co/zb1Tc0W1N3
— Brendan Karet (@bad_takes) January 9, 2024
10 year old’s Youtube gaming channel intro from 2012 https://t.co/ENjjIBKMLt
— The Smollest Bean (@twinkophrenia) January 9, 2024
Me, high on bathsalts inside a Frys Electronics in 2007:
The box for a EVGA ATI Radeon X800-PCI (With free copy of Half-Life 2 Episode 1): https://t.co/aOJqzgqWCn
— harris.zone on b’sky (@HarrisFoster) January 9, 2024
There was the inevitable Anchorman sex panther joke.
Elon, Musk is announcing his new line of fragrances called “Sex Panther” What do we think?
I hope Elon is ethically sourcing his Panther bits. https://t.co/UKpUk5zuPE pic.twitter.com/1Gy9FiL2H8
— Paul (@WomanDefiner) January 9, 2024
There were lots of miscellaneous yuks.
New high school film production company intro just dropped. https://t.co/BOuNqoaPdw
— Adrian with a W (@AdrianwithaW) January 9, 2024
the bowling alley TVs when you get a strike: https://t.co/pELsl4w49G
— beer person (@CantEverDie) January 9, 2024
truly the most divorced man on the planet https://t.co/vAqMBvyWoQ
— Aaron Serna (@AaronSerna) January 9, 2024
some 14 year old in the year 2000 thinks this is cool https://t.co/UfB03S9JkN
— my heart’s the bitter buffalo (@inthefade) January 9, 2024
When im in a “be a 12 year old boy” competition and my opponent is elon musk https://t.co/3Y4sRJWLF9
— 0.005 Seconds (82/300) (@seconds_0) January 9, 2024
the entire X rebrand is best pictured as a child trying to imagine the “sickest” social media platform ever
it’s the digital equivalent of putting “danger do not cross” and warning labels on the door to your bedroom https://t.co/T9UZe40pG8
— Kʟᴏʙʙ (@KL0BB) January 9, 2024
And there were reminders of the appallingly large amount of money Musk paid for a service where everyone routinely makes fun of him.
he paid $44 billion dollars for this https://t.co/8iJrrrUcxk
— sbf innocence project (@venturecommunis) January 9, 2024
But surely at least those smart enough to fork over actual money to use Musk’s otherwise free service think the neon panther is cool. They definitely don’t think he’s the biggest dork in human history.