Tesla Shareholder Wants Musk to Drop His Disdain for Advertising

Tesla Inc. shareholders will vote in July on whether the electric-car maker should start doing something Elon Musk has long resisted: advertise its cars.

James M. Danforth, a San Diego-based holder of 850 Tesla shares, is proposing that the company spend at least $50 per vehicle produced to advertise its products. Tesla’s board opposes the measure.

“Advertising can increase brand value, product awareness and interest,” Danforth wrote in the proposal, which is included in Tesla’s proxy statement. “Tesla ads can help mitigate and dilute substantial FUD (‘Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt’) and misinformation campaigns sponsored by competitors and detractors worldwide and ...