Billionaire Elon Musk's latest attempt at showcasing his sense of style has backfired, as a new promo for X, formerly Twitter, draws mockery and trolling from users.
The promotional video, dropped on Tuesday, features a computer-generated panther with neon purple stripes and flashlight eyeballs hurtling toward the viewer. The panther then slashes the screen, revealing the rebranded name of Musk's social media platform.
You can see the video below.
Musk was swiftly mocked for sharing the cheesy video.
The computer graphics, reminiscent of mid-aughts video games, were widely panned, and the overall aesthetic failed to resonate with the audience. The neon panther, which Musk likely considered cool, faced widespread derision.
It's plain to see that Musk has a higher opinion of X than just about anyone else with the exception of the far-right activists who've capitalized on the platform as a radicalization tool.
Back in September, he was widely mocked after he called on pop sensation Taylor Swift to release music and concert videos on the flailing social media site after Swift announced her "Taylor's Version" of her album 1989 in an attempt to leverage her superstardom for his benefit.
That did not go unnoticed by his critics, who noted he'd failed to provide any compelling reason why Swift, one of the world's most successful musicians, should do so.
Mere months before that, social media users laughed at him after he announced his plans to retire Twitter's iconic blue bird logo and completely rebrand the platform under the domain x.com. The hashtag #GoodbyeTwitter began to trend as many acknowledged that the proposed change would make the social media platform unrecognizable.
Twitter's blue bird logo, affectionately known as Larry T. Bird, has been an integral part of the platform since its inception in 2006. Co-founder Biz Stone chose the name in homage to NBA legend Larry Bird, adding a touch of playfulness and charm to the social media site.
Those days are long gone—a remarkable fall from grace for one of the world's most influential social media networks.
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