- YouTuber Zack Nelson said he is considering selling his Cybertruck due to its polarizing nature.
- Nelson said one sponsor declined to be in the video review because of Cybertruck.
- Nelson, who owns other Teslas, said he doesn’t want to appear in support of Elon Musk’s controversial statements online.
A YouTuber said a sponsor bowed out of participating in one of his Cybertruck videos over concerns about the connection to the vehicle.
Tech influencer Zack Nelson has been making YouTube videos for about 14 years — and Cybertruck has become a “pretty important” part of his business, he told Business Insider.
After driving 13,000 miles with it, Nelson made a video review of the Cybertruck as a work truck and shared three things he likes and hates about the truck.
He praised aspects such as its bullet-proof exterior, steering-by-wire steering system and attractive design.
However, after including a sponsored ad and sending a video preview to the brand, Nelson said he received word that the brand did not want to appear in Cybertruck content.
“”We would prefer not to appear alongside Cybertruck content at this time,” Nelson said in the video in a characterization of the brand’s response. Business Insider verified that the brand sent an email declining to participate in the video citing the concern. its for linking to any Cybertruck content.
The brand’s response was understandable, Nelson said in his review of the video, and “speaks volumes to the polarization of Cybertruck.” Nelson told BI that the brand said it had previously had negative experiences with linking to Cybertruck content. The company was interested in working with the YouTuber on other videos in the future, he added.
Nelson said in his Cybertruck review video that when Elon Musk writes controversial posts on X, like offering to impregnate Taylor Swift or asking why no one killed Kamala Harris, it can also affect the YouTuber’s business.
Zack Nelson’s Cybertruck has his wheelchair company’s logo on the side. screenshot/JerryRigEverything
In addition to his YouTube channel, Nelson has a wheelchair manufacturing company that he funds with income from his YouTube channel. That company uses four vehicles, each with a logo on the side.
“Those kinds of statements are not normal, and right now, with my business in the slap, it seems like I support those kinds of attitudes — which I definitely don’t,” Nelson told his audience in the video.
Nelson told BI that “it’s not just those two comments” from Musk that he highlighted in his video. It’s also that Musk has been increasingly political, and it’s hard to “separate his very unique creation from his very unique political stance.”
Nelson told BI that he was happy to make YouTube videos about “controversial things all day long.” However, he wants to protect his wheelchair business, which he started about five years ago.
“I have the YouTube side of things, where any exposure is good exposure,” Nelson said. “But then I have the wheelchair side of things where negative exposure hurts business.”
Nelson told BI that he owns every other Tesla model and has never received negative feedback on non-Cybertruck vehicles. However, while driving the electric pickup truck, he said he has come across instances of truckers “rolling coal” on it when someone pulls up next to them, hits their gas and covers the vehicle in a cloud of black smoke.
Other Cybertruck drivers previously told BI that they experienced similar negative interactions while driving the vehicle, including crashes. Some also reported being cut off on the road or cursed.
Nelson is now considering selling his Cybertruck and replacing it with a 2025 Silverado EV or a Rivian. Nelson told BI that “the polarization factor is a really big deal, but it’s not like the whole deal.” In the video, he also cited poor weather visibility as a primary complaint. Nelson lives in Utah where snow is common and he said it can “build up” on the headlight. He also said the headlights could shine directly on the snowflakes as they fall creating a “Star Wars warp speed effect”.
The Cybertruck has sold well since its launch, becoming something of a status symbol for celebrities.
Auto industry tracker Cox Automotive estimates that Tesla sold 17,000 electric cars in the third quarter, making it the third best-selling electric vehicle in the US — behind the Model 3 and Model Y.