Is it a bird? Is it a plane? It’s SpaceX and the Tesla Roadster!

SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch

Engineering wonder boy Elon Musk is well-known for his spectacular product launches, whether it be solar panel roofs for Solar City or the new Tesla electric truck. But it probably doesn’t get much more spectacular than SpaceX’s latest achievement.

Not only did they launch the ‘Falcon Heavy’, the most powerful rocket ever, into space - they also brought it back down in a spectacular landing sequence involving a drone-ship out at sea. That’s some next level Star Wars tech right there.

As if that wasn’t enough – the part of the spacecraft that stayed up in space carried a payload never before seen past the outer stratosphere:

- A Tesla Roadster convertible complete with a full-size astronaut doll and David Bowie tunes playing on repeat on its way to Mars.

Check out the launch video here (it’s long but worth watching):

In true Silicon Valley fashion, this launch was a well-orchestrated marketing event that would have made Steve Jobs proud.

The launch itself was live streamed across the globe and throughout the stream, a panel of commentators from SpaceX talked the audience through each step of the launch process - perfectly accompanied by the sound of ecstatic crowds.

Since the launch two days ago, the launch above has been viewed over 15 million times and is #1 on Youtube’s Trending-list. The video has also drummed up a whopping 320k likes and 30k comments. The live stream of the car traveling through space had over 20k simultaneous live streams during the writing of this article.

Elon Musk himself said that launching the Roadster into space was ‘just for fun’ and of course, it serves no purpose whatsoever except for showing the world that SpaceX can haul heavy loads into outer space, but I can’t help to think that this stunt is also incredibly smart and obviously unique Tesla product placement. The kind of product placement that even puts the Red Bull’s Stratos-project to shame.

This momentous occasion felt light-years away far from the typical NASA launches and once the launch was over and the spacecraft/Roadster was well on its way, the panel from SpaceX dropped a CTA that made the recruitment marketer in me do mental summersaults:

“If you would like to join us on exciting projects like these, please visit spacex.org/careers!”

If I would be an engineer, I would submit my application faster than you can say “Luke, I am your father!” and by dropping this quick line at the end of a mind-blowing tech-happening, this incredible launch video basically became the employer branding video to end all employer branding videos.

Check out the live stream from space here:

To infinity and beyond!

Spotlight articles

Roll-up and event marketing
Daily Drop

If I never saw another roll-up ever again

May 23, 2019

You guys are marketers, you’ve been there. Dragged that roll up across town and country. Felt the weight on your shoulder. Cursed how the carry case’s nylon straps dig into your hands or shoulders. Wondered »

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*