Tesla is ubiquitous. Following Election Day, the company’s shares broke the $1 trillion mark, making the electric vehicle manufacturer more valuable than the next 15 automakers combined. Much of that is because Elon Musk’s company is likely to benefit from its CEO having President-elect Donald Trump’s ear. But it’s also because Teslas are good EVs — the Model Y is one of Heatmap’s top picks for someone who wants to make a stress-free switch away from gasoline.
The problem is, well, Elon. Though 35% of respondents to a Heatmap poll last winter said the controversial and erratic executive made them more likely to want to purchase a Tesla, there are plenty of people who wouldn’t be caught dead in an EV that in any way benefits the newly minted government efficiency crusader.
But what about all those people who purchased Teslas before Musk went full MAGA? For them, there’s a solution in the form of bumper stickers produced by Matthew Hiller of Waikiki, Hawaii. Hiller’s side hustle, Mad Puffer Stickers, gives Tesla owners a way to disavow the company’s CEO in the form of a no Elon sticker, an Anti-Elon Tesla Club sticker, or one that spells it all out: “I bought this before we knew Elon was crazy.” As you might expect, business is booming.
Last night, I caught up with Hiller about his unexpected success. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
How did you begin making anti-Elon Musk stickers?
I started making stickers on my own before the Elon sticker. I work at an aquarium, so I did a lot of fish stickers. I always had an interest in making stickers — I knew how to make them, and how to put the designs and cute phrases on them.
The point came in maybe February or January of 2023. I had been wanting to buy a Tesla, but at that point, I started to notice how far off the rails Elon had been going. When he bought Twitter, he started extreme censoring of information, taking verification marks off The New York Times and things like that to sow discontent, disinformation, and push his agenda. And it was ugly. I couldn’t believe this man was using his power like this, and I immediately did not want to support him in any way. I figured, there’s no way I’m buying a Tesla — but there have got to be so many people who are so embarrassed to be repping him on the streets driving their Teslas and who want to completely disavow this guy. Because I know I would want to sell mine immediately after I saw what he was doing.
So I made the first sticker, which said, “I bought this before we knew Elon was crazy.” I printed up a very small run at first and just threw it in my shop. It took a while for the first sale, but after it got rolling, some people started posting pictures. It went viral a couple of times and I would see a burst of sales, and then it would quiet down. I would be selling five to seven a day, and then suddenly, there would be 50 a day because someone else talked about it on Reddit.
And now, at this point, it’s gone insane.
Have your sales gone up since the election?
Absolutely. Unbelievably.
There were major points when the sales spiked beyond anything that had happened before. The first time was when Elon went on stage with Trump at one of the rallies, and that solidified what everybody already knew: that he was in the tank for Trump, and he was going to put his full fortune behind getting the guy elected.
Then after the election, there was another huge bunch of sales because people were like, “Oh my God, this guy is now going to have a part in this government.” This was so in-your-face and so disgusting — he’s just filling Trump’s coffers with his money in exchange for position and power and influence. And it showed in the sales that other people thought so, too: I must have sold probably 250 or 300 that day, and it’s been steady ever since. I can barely keep up. My full-time job is at the aquarium, and I come home and pack stickers until 11 p.m. It’s just me and my wife doing it all.
Can you give me a ballpark of how many you’ve sold?
Definitely over 10,000. I think today we’re at about 180 [per day] — and that’s across all my stickers, not just the anti-Elon sticker. But it’s been around 100-plus every day for weeks now. It’s rough.
Which is the most popular design?
The most popular is the OG, the “I bought this before we knew Elon was crazy.” It’s the only one that I have that is a traditional long bumper sticker, rectangular. And I’m a little upset that it’s the most popular because it’s the hardest one to ship because of the odd-size envelopes. For all the other ones, it’s easier. But that’s the most popular one by far.
It’s currently the No. 4 best-selling bumper sticker on Amazon. It had been #1 at a few different points. At one point it was beating both Trump and Kamala stickers. And I was like, “That’s insane. People hate Elon more than they love Trump or Kamala?”
Have you sold to any Cybertruck owners, as far as you’re aware?
I have no idea. I don’t think so — I mean, everyone knew he was crazy by the time the Cybertruck came out. People buying the Cybertruck are all in.
I saw on Instagram that you dropped off some stickers at a Tesla dealership?
That was a while ago. I didn’t take stickers; I believe I had a key chain at that point. I dropped them around the store just for the heck of it, to try to drum up some interest in anti-Elon sentiment. Maybe it’d find the right person, you never know. I wish I had more time to focus on social media, but I just don’t.
Do you have any more anti-Elon sticker design plans?
There’s one that’s a little more general, and it just says, “No more billionaires.” Elon is the main problem: He’s probably the worst billionaire, but he’s not the only problem. So maybe that sticker will end up on a Tesla, too.
Will you keep making your fish stickers now that your anti-Elon business has taken off?
Yeah. I have the ideas banked, I just don’t bother printing them at this point. There’s no point — I’m swamped with what I’ve got. But yeah, absolutely. If I have a really good one, I’ll print it for the aquarium, but not my own personal store. At this point, I’m all Elon, all the time.
Jim Vondruska/Getty Images
