The New ‘Musk’ Trailer Promises a… Provocative Documentary

If you were not aware of the controversial documentary Musk getting a new trailer, despite being directed by an Academy Award-winning filmmaker and enjoying buzzy screenings at the Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals, well, that might be because social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and X have all refused to allow the studio Bleecker Street to run it as a paid ad on their platforms. For… some reason.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

YouTube, TikTok and Meta have all supplied a reason related to “political content” to Bleecker Street reps. The latter two companies’ platforms, by policy, do not allow campaign or other political ads, in Meta’s case largely owing to fallout from the Cambridge Analytica Facebook scandal during the 2016 election. But the Musk trailer, which dropped Thursday, does not appear to fall in the category of the campaign advertising those bylaws were enacted to prevent. It simply contains a shot of a political rally in 2024 and a reference at the end to the 2024 election — the kind of flicks that occur in numerous documentaries and are hardly meant to stump for a particular candidate in an upcoming race. The reason for YouTube’s rejection is even less clear, as the platform does allow campaign ads, albeit with “paid for” disclosures from vetted candidates.

Hmm… interesting. Why do you think all the major social media platforms seem so reluctant to help Bleecker Street advertise Musk, the newest documentary from celebrated filmmaker Alex Gibney? And why is its theatrical release now in question?

Here is the trailer for you to judge for yourself:

Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Post-Script: It looks like YouTube and Meta are reversing course on their Musk ad restrictions! However…

TikTok and X have remained quiet and continue not to run the ad.

I… would not hold my breath for X to open itself up for Musk advertisements.

Now you can let us know what you think of all this in the comments!