Best Newsjacking Examples From Tesla's Flying Car Launch

When Tesla's flying Roadster took off in Texas, brands raced to post the best newsjacking examples a.k.a funny marketing advertisements before the internet moved on. Here is who won the memes, who fumbled them and what any business can steal for its own real-time marketing.

Table of Contents:

• What is Newsjacking?
• What Tesla Actually Unveiled
• How Did IKEA Pull It Off?
• Who Else Joined the Party?
  
  • 1. Citroën: The Disclaimer Everyone “Forgot”
  • 2. Heineken: What Flying Cars Require
  • 3. Crypto.com: Elon Has Invented New Chart Patterns
  • 4. NIO: The Honest Competitor
• Tesla Newsjacking That Worked Before
  
  • LEGO
  • Pepsi
  • Denny’s
  • Crunch
  • Dubai Police
  • Ford
• Why Did Rival Carmakers Struggle?
  
  • BMW
  • Audi
  • Hyundai
• Which Newsjacking Style Wins?
• How Can Brands React Faster?
• MPiFY Can Help

What is Newsjacking?

Newsjacking is the art of connecting your brand to a breaking news story while everyone is still talking about it. Think of it as jumping onto a trend before the internet gets bored and starts arguing about something else. It is a close cousin of the reactive marketing strategy we explored through Norwegian Air’s logo swap, except newsjacking is usually faster, more focused and, when done right, considerably funnier marketing.

The formula is simple: a big story gets everyone’s attention, your brand finds a clever way into the conversation, and your content gives people a reason to stop scrolling. The news provides the stage, your product delivers the punchline, and your social team has a tiny window to make it happen. Miss that window and your brilliant idea becomes yesterday’s news. Literally.

What Tesla Actually Unveiled

Tesla unveiled its redesigned Roadster on Thursday 15 October 2026 at a SpaceX test site in McGregor, Texas, with production starts in 2028. The demonstration featured a white two-seater driving upside down along a ramp, twisting through the air using cold gas thrusters and landing on its wheels. Apparently, making an electric sports car go fast was no longer enough.

Naturally, the internet had thoughts. Tesla’s website lists a $50,000 reservation payment for the Performance model and $250,000 for the Thrust version, giving people another reason to turn the launch into meme material. For brands, the spectacle offered everything a newsjacking opportunity needs: recognisable visuals, an unexpected stunt and plenty of room for a punchline.

How Did IKEA Pull It Off?

IKEA Taiwan’s Instagram account pulled off one of the most memorable early reactions by recreating Tesla’s flying-car ramp with products people could actually afford. Within a day, the brand shared an image of a grey towel mimicking Roadster’s stunt ramp, with a red toy car on its way to the top and three more lined up below. The caption delivered the punchline: “All vehicles have undergone safety testing, suitable for children, and affordable. Tracks are also available.”

The post echoed Tesla’s “Real life, baby” caption while using a NT$ 349 (US$ 10.75) LILLABO toy car set and a BROKGLIM towel. Instead of merely adding its logo to a trending image, IKEA made its own products the centre of the joke.

That was the secret sauce. The visual explained itself, the price contrast made the joke land, and the products had a natural role in the story. Other brands’ social teams joined the comments, giving the post extra momentum. No expensive production, no paragraph of explanation, just a towel doing the work of a futuristic launch ramp.

Who Else Joined the Party?

Several other brands jumped into the flying Roadster conversation, using humour and industry-specific references to make the moment their own. Each took a slightly different approach, showing that brands do not need to recycle the same punchline to join a trend.

1. Citroën: The Disclaimer Everyone “Forgot”

Citroën turned Tesla’s gravity-defying stunt into a safety joke with an Instagram Reel captioned, “When they forgot to add the ‘Don’t try this at home’ disclaimer.” Rather than compete with Tesla’s engineering spectacle, the brand highlighted the warning viewers might reasonably expect to see.

The joke worked because it was instantly relatable. Sometimes the smartest reaction is simply saying what everyone else is thinking.

2. Heineken: What Flying Cars Require

Heineken joined the conversation with an Instagram post teasing what flying cars apparently require to their guidelines. The campaign plays on Heineken's traditional responsible-drinking stance, joking that safety guidelines now have to cover the skies as well as the roads.

The lesson is to make the reference feel natural, not forced. A familiar product can fit an unexpected situation, provided the connection makes sense to the people following your brand.

3. Crypto.com: Elon Has Invented New Chart Patterns

Crypto.com posted an Instagram content with the line, “Elon out here inventing new chart patterns too. What can’t he do (sigh),” connecting the Roadster’s unusual aerial movements to the charts familiar to cryptocurrency audiences.

Rather than copy another brand’s joke, Crypto.com translated the spectacle into its own industry’s language. That is the difference between joining a trend and making it relevant to your audience.

4. NIO: The Honest Competitor

NIO founder William Li offered a different kind of reaction, admitting, “This we really don’t have.” Unlike the other examples, this was a comment rather than a dedicated marketing stunt.

The honesty was the appeal. Instead of pretending to have an equivalent feature or manufacturing a counterclaim, Li acknowledged Tesla’s achievement. In a competitive industry where everyone wants the last word, admitting that a rival has done something impressive can be a refreshing brand moment.

Tesla Newsjacking That Worked Before

Tesla has been handing brands free content for years, and the November 2019 Cybertruck reveal remains a classic example. When the vehicle’s supposedly armoured windows smashed during the live demonstration, brands jumped on the awkward moment within hours.

The incident provided an instantly recognisable visual, a built-in punchline and a narrow window for brands to react. Here are the companies that made the most of it.

LEGO: Guaranteed Shatterproof

LEGO responded on X with a grey, brick-built truck resembling the Cybertruck, accompanied by the line, “The evolution of the truck is here. Guaranteed shatterproof.”

The joke worked because LEGO’s own product delivered the punchline. The truck resembled Tesla’s angular design, while the claim of being shatterproof poked fun at the very feature that had just failed. Simple, visual and gloriously cheeky.

Pepsi: Demo Day

Pepsi showed a small object being thrown at a can that remained intact, captioning the image “Demo day”. When people replied, Pepsi doubled down by calling itself the “can of the future”.

The follow-up extended the joke beyond the original post. It also showed how audience reactions can keep a timely moment alive without requiring an entirely new campaign.

Denny’s: Introducing the Dynertruck

Denny’s photoshopped its logo onto an image of the Cybertruck and announced its own creation, the “Dynertruck”. Its caption read, “Revealed our Dynertruck the same day as the Cybertruck… smh.”

The pun was deliberately silly, which was exactly the point. Denny’s already had a playful social voice, so the joke felt like something the brand would naturally post rather than a corporate account suddenly discovering memes.

Crunch: The Crunchtruck Enters the Chat

Crunch replied to Denny’s with its own “Crunchtruck”, joking, “Well this is embarrassing… We revealed our Crunchtruck the same day.”

Instead of treating the moment as a one-brand performance, Crunch turned it into a back-and-forth. Each response gave audiences another reason to engage, proving that a witty follow-up can sometimes be more effective than trying to steal the entire spotlight.

Dubai Police: The Cybertruck Gets a New Uniform

Dubai Police joined the Cybertruck conversation by placing its own livery on an image of the vehicle. The crossover made sense for a force already famous for its supercar patrol fleet.

The connection was immediately recognisable, making the post easy to understand without an elaborate punchline. It also showed how a brand can join a trend by placing the news within its own familiar world.

Ford: An Apples-to-Apples Challenge

Ford took a more direct approach after Tesla released a video showing the Cybertruck winning a tug-of-war against an F-150. Ford vice-president Sunny Madra challenged Elon Musk publicly: “Hey @Elon, send us a Cybertruck and we will do the apples to apples test for you.”

Musk replied, “Bring it on.”

Unlike the meme-led responses, Ford’s challenge focused on product competition and questioned the fairness of Tesla’s demonstration. It attracted attention because it involved a genuine competitive claim, but this approach carries more risk: once you challenge a rival publicly, you need to be prepared to follow through.

Why Did Rival Carmakers Struggle?

Slower, defensive, and competitor-centred ads made the rival carmakers struggle. BMW mocked the Model 3 waiting list in 2016, Audi called its e-tron Sportback a "Musk-Have" in 2017 and Hyundai put up "Your turn, Elon" billboards in 2018. Clever lines, sure, but they read like ads rather than jokes, so nobody remixed them.

BMW: The Model 3 Waiting-List Joke

In 2016, BMW ran two advertisements for its 330e plug-in hybrid mocking the waiting list for Tesla’s Model 3. One featured a disappointed reservation holder sitting on his steps while his neighbour drove away in a BMW. The other ended with, “or you can drive.”

The message was clear: why wait for a Tesla when you could drive a BMW sooner? It made a reasonable competitive argument, but felt more like traditional comparative advertising than a joke people would naturally remix or share.

Audi: The Musk-Have

In 2017, Audi described its e-tron Sportback as a “Musk-Have” in an advertisement released aPFYbout a month before Model 3 production began.

The pun was concise and connected Audi’s electric vehicle ambitions to the name dominating the conversation. However, it remained primarily a product advertisement, without the instantly replicable visual humour that made other Tesla-related posts more shareable.

Hyundai: Your Turn, Elon

In 2018, Hyundai placed “Your turn, Elon” billboards promoting the Kona Electric near the exit of Geneva Airport ahead of the motor show. The campaign later appeared in Auckland and Wellington.

The message positioned Hyundai as a challenger in the electric vehicle market, but it was a planned advertising campaign rather than a rapid response to breaking news. That distinction matters: newsjacking works best when a brand feels like it has joined a live conversation, not simply bought advertising space to make a point.

These campaigns were not necessarily failures. They served a different purpose: promoting products and challenging competitors. But for shareable newsjacking, being witty is only half the job. Content also needs to feel native to the moment and give people a reason to participate.

Which Newsjacking Style Wins?

Fast and visual wins. The reason? Speed and the brand's own props keep the joke self-explanatory. Here is how the two styles compare across the Tesla moments above:

As Justin Ciappara, Co-Founder & Creative Director of MPiFY, puts it: "The best newsjacking looks like a joke only your brand could make. If it needs a paragraph of explanation, the moment has already left the building." The audience data agrees. In Sprout Social's Q3 2026 Pulse Survey, 85% of consumers said most companies keep their social content culturally relevant and 84% said that matters, yet originality drives loyalty for 33%, behind product quality at 44%. Everyone is in the trend, so the brands that stand out sound like themselves.

How Can Brands React Faster?

Brands react faster by settling the voice, the approver and the red lines before the news breaks. Pick one decision-maker who can say yes in minutes, keep a "prop box" of your own products and visuals, and agree a short list of topics you never touch. A consistent tone is the engine here, which is why a solid social media strategy for high-growth brands and a human-sounding AI brand voice matter more than any single post. For a gentler warm-up, planned moments like April Fool's campaigns are a good sandbox before you go live on breaking news.

MPiFY Can Help

Fast newsjacking only looks effortless when the groundwork is already done. Here’s how full-service digital agency MPiFY can help you to newsjack. Our marketing services set up the listening, approvals and prop box that let a client post in minutes. Prior to that, our branding services help you build a visual identity people recognise in half a second. As the finishing touch, our SEO and AEO services make sure the spike in attention keeps paying off in search and AI answers. Think of it as your own IKEA towel, minus the physics.

Got a launch, a feature drop or a flying car of your own to react to? Talk to the MPiFY team and let's make your next real-time post one the internet actually remembers.

FAQ

What are some good newsjacking examples?

IKEA Taiwan's towel ramp, LEGO's "shatterproof" Cybertruck, and Denny's "Dynertruck" are three standout newsjacking examples tied to Tesla.

Is newsjacking the same as reactive marketing?

Newsjacking is a type of reactive marketing that inserts a brand into a specific breaking news story rather than a general trend.

What did IKEA Taiwan post about Tesla?

IKEA Taiwan recreated Tesla's launch ramp with a towel and LILLABO toy cars and captioned it "Safe, affordable."

How fast should a newsjacking post go out?

Aim for hours, not days, because the conversation moves on quickly.

Can small brands try newsjacking?

Yes, because the idea matters more than the budget, as long as your voice and approvals are ready.

When should brands skip a news moment?

Skip it when the story is political, tragic or unrelated to what your brand does.

How do you measure newsjacking?

Track reach, shares, brand mentions and branded search before and after the post.

Key Takeaways

• Tesla unveiled the redesigned Roadster on 15 October 2026 in Texas and targets production in 2028.
• Tesla lists reservation payments of $50,000 for the Performance model and $250,000 for the Thrust version.
• 85% of consumers say brands keep content culturally relevant and 84% say it matters.
• Originality drives loyalty for 33% of consumers, behind product quality at 44%.
• Fast, visual jokes built on your own product beat slow ads that focus on the competitor.