There's a new short video making the rounds online that starts with a list of symptoms that Tesla drivers may be experiencing.
"Have you been avoiding eye contact with other drivers?" narrator Alex Winter can be heard saying in the video. Winter is an actor best known for his role as Bill in the movie "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure."
"Do you experience intense feelings of guilt when honked at, even before knowing the reason?"
The so-called "public service announcement" is a spoof, meant to sound like a pharmaceutical ad. Most of the cast and film crew who volunteered to make the two minute movie are Seattle residents, including some who own a Tesla.
"If these symptoms describe you, you may be suffering from Tesla Regret Syndrome, or TRS," Winter said.
The video is for Tesla drivers who may be experiencing buyer's remorse and are unhappy with the electric car company's CEO, Elon Musk. Musk has been leading a push to cut thousands of federal jobs. The video comes a few months after Tesla dethroned Subaru as the most popular car for Seattle drivers.
KNKX reached out to Tesla to get a response to the video, but have not heard back.
Lacey Leavitt Gray produced the film. She bought a Tesla in 2020, but recently sold it when Musk became involved with the Trump Administration.
“I bought a car because I wanted to do something good," Leavitt Gray said. "And then I was seeing, literally, the symbol of the car I was driving now stood for something so totally different."
Leavitt Gray has since been to several protests organized by the group called Troublemakers, based in Seattle. They're responsible for protests outside of Tesla showrooms in the Seattle area.
Leavitt Gray said that's where she got the idea to produce the short film, which she called her creative “act of resistance.”
“The only thing that saves people during these terrifying times where autocracy is on the rise is to connect and to do things together,” she said.
Leavitt Gray said the film features actors who own a Tesla and have either been yelled at or experienced vandalism because of the car. She said she hopes the video offers Tesla owners who can't afford to sell the car a way to voice their frustrations over Musk, such as slapping a sticker to its bumper.
But also, Leavitt Gray said, the video is a message against harassing Tesla drivers, who may have bought the car to be a better steward of the environment.
"I get why people are upset about Elon Musk. I understand why people are angry, but don't take it out on Tesla drivers," she said. "Don't take it on the person who is driving the car down the street."
Local Filmmaker Megan Griffiths is one of about 15 people who volunteered her time to help with the project.
“A lot of us had been having so much political anxiety, and it just felt like a great way to direct that into something productive," she said.
The Tesla Regret Syndrome video has been viewed more than 61,000 times since it was posted to YouTube last month. It's also been featured on a Tesla Regret Syndrome campaign website, run by the Seattle-based group, Troublemakers.
