“Everyone is in favor of free speech … but if anyone says anything back, that is an outrage." – Winston Churchill
Advertisers gathering for the Cannes Lions festival this week caught a rare treat: Elon Musk groveling.
“I do shoot myself in the foot from time to time,” the genius of our time confessed at the international advertising industry confab in France, “but at least you know it is genuine, not from the P.R. department.”
No public relations department would approve the remarks Musk offered at the Nov. 29 Dealbook Summit. Musk threw F-bombs when asked about a mass exodus of advertisers fleeing pro-Nazi ramblings on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
"Don't advertise. … If somebody is going to try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money, go fuck yourself. … Go fuck yourself. Is that clear? I hope it is."
Now he’s in France with X CEO Linda Yaccarino, begging for ad business and trying to take back what he said.
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