The Cyberwhistle

[Image by prusaprinter.org]

Elon Musk’s Tesla company is now known for its advanced technology and car manufacturing development. More specifically, Tesla’s advanced AI in their cars is what sells the most for them. But just recently, Musk had a different idea this time. Musk decided to do a little trolling by selling a new, limited edition whistleblower item!

That’s right! Just in under an hour, the whistleblower, named on the Tesla site as Cyberwhistle, marked at a $50 price point, has already sold out. Now the only places where you can buy this item are on a third-party site, like eBay, where people sell it at higher prices at around $150. The site also describes the Cyberwhistle as “limited edition” and “premium collectible” and made from “medical grade” material. The Cyberwhistle also has an “integrated attachment feature for added versatility.”

In the beginning, many might be wondering: why? Well, several days ago, Apple released its own $19 cloth to clean the screens of your various devices, like smartphones and laptops. Musk believed this was ridiculous, so he set out to sell its own “ridiculous” item on Tesla’s site. Musk also tweeted: “Don’t waste your money on that silly Apple Cloth, buy our whistle instead!”

Other people don’t think this Cyberwhistle is funny; in fact, many people take it as a jab at people who have endured discrimination and harassment at Tesla factories. This Cyberwhistle is taken as a joke to those who have had complaints at work. Many people who do are nicknamed “whistleblowers,” this item is taken as a mock to those people.

It just so happens that the Cyberwhistle was released just after Tesla had to pay $137 million to a former African American employee. The worker stated that they endured racial discrimination between 2015 and 2016 when they were still working for Tesla. The large cash settlement came from a California court order.

Last month in November, a woman filed a lawsuit against Tesla’s California factory for experiencing sexual harassment, including touching. However, she never received an answer from the human resources department after filing the complaint.

Needless to say, there is some division between a joke or offensive to people. Of course, people bought the Cyberwhistle as a meme to support Tesla and/or Elon Musk.

But what do you think? Would you have gotten this Cyberwhistle? Do you think this is a simple joke? Or is there more to it that might offend some people?