After the Dawn Project used its logo in a Super Bowl commercial calling for Tesla boycotts, the National Transportation Safety Board ordered it to halt.
The NTSB said that its seal must be removed from the Dawn Project’s website, YouTube channel, and any future commercial airings. A NTSB press statement said that it did not sanction the Dawn Project’s use of its seal or promote its work.
“We used the NTSB’s seal in our second Super Bowl LVIII commercial while referring to Tesla refusing to implement the NTSB’s prudent safety recommendations, which The Dawn Project fully agrees with,” a spokeswoman wrote. “Unlike Tesla, we respect the NTSB.”
Tech CEO Dan O’Dowd funds the Dawn Project, a safety advocacy organization that aired two Super Bowl LVIII advertisements in Washington, DC, Dover, Delaware, Santa Barbara, California, and Traverse City, Michigan, where Pete Buttigieg resides. Airing the adverts in those markets cost $552,000.
O’Dowd claims Tesla Full Self-Driving has serious safety faults, and the advertisements condemn it. FSD isn’t autonomous. Instead, the $12,000 updated system automates certain driving operations and needs a human driver to take control at any moment.
The Dawn Project has opposed Tesla FSD for years, including a Super Bowl commercial last year. In their commercial this year, the organization utilized the NTSB emblem, attracting the agency. The NTSB’s General Counsel William McMurry Jr. deemed the usage illegal and highlighted the commercial’s posting on its website and YouTube channel.
“Due to the nature of our work and the need to be unambiguously independent from commercial interests, we strive to protect the NTSB’s international reputation by preventing unapproved use of our seal,” the letter states. “Contrary to Federal law, you did not obtain or receive permission from the NTSB to use the Seal in your Super Bowl LVIII commercial or on other materials. Furthermore, your unlawful use of the NTSB’s seal falsely suggests sponsorship of your organization and/or message.”
