Tesla’s Cybertruck just made its grand debut at Mardi Gras 2025, and, well… it didn’t go great.
Watch the Video: The Crowd Was Not Having It
A group of Cybertrucks rolled through the Orpheus Parade, a generally tame, family-friendly event known for marching bands, fabulous floats, and an all-around good time.
But when the small group of Tesla Cybertrucks cruised by? Booing. Unfriendly throws. Drinks splashed all over them. One witness described the Teslas as being “lustily booed” by everyone in the grandstand. Take a look for yourself, this is not at all typical of the Orpheus Parade.
Swastikar gets bombarded at Mardi Gras
byu/funksonme inPublicFreakout
(Here’s the direct link to the video in case the formatting is screwy, Facebook can be that way.)
(Why not, here’s some photos, too. And a another video angle of a different Cybertruck in the group.)
“Let The Good Times Roll…” But Not in a Cybertruck
It’s worth mentioning, this is Mardi Gras week in New Orleans, arguably the friendliest city in America. People say hello to strangers in NoLa. The city is the living, breathing embodiment of Southern Hospitality.
The Orpheus Parade is all these wonderful floats, high-school marching bands and drum lines, and a crowd of revelers looking to have fun. It’s not really the sort of crowd that heckles very much. Bianca Del Rio got what sounded like the most rapturous cheer of the night as the Monarch of Orpheus.
Take a look, here’s my favorite float, The Orpheus Leviathan. From that NOLA.com livestream of the event, you can get a feel for the very friendly vibe on the street. Funnily enough, you can catch just a glimpse of one Cybertruck in the livestream, but you really got to look hard, they evidently edited it out. Maybe due to the crowd reaction? Not sure.
Tesla’s Brand Damage Is On Parade
So what gives? Has Tesla’s brand image really collapsed this much that just seeing a Cybertruck turns a friendly crowd that angry?
Six months ago, Tesla was still a symbol of innovation. Now? People are throwing literal garbage at their products in the street.
In any case, this is a bad omen for Tesla. If your product is getting heckled in a city famous for hospitality, maybe it’s time to ask some hard questions. Like:
- How much more damage can the Tesla brand take?
- How do you rebuild trust when your most recognizable product is a punchline?
- Is there a way back from this for Tesla?
If I worked at Tesla, I’d be watching this nervously. How much more damage can the brand stand before it makes like a Cybertruck and just falls apart entirely?
Side note from your editor, Kay Leadfoot: Gizmodo reports on February 4th that the folks in the orange Cybertruck are evidently influencers, and they were live-streaming their parade experience. Here’s a link to the livestream, where they detail the broken glass on their truck at the end of the night.
