- Matthew Hiller makes anti-Elon Musk bumper stickers as a side hustle.
- He says sales have soared in recent weeks since the Tesla CEO’s controversial salutes at a Trump rally.
- Tesla sales and stock have tumbled amid disquiet in some quarters about Musk’s politics.
An aquarium worker who sells anti-Elon Musk stickers online as a side hustle said business has boomed since the Tesla CEO made his controversial salutes at a Trump rally in January.
Matthew Hiller told Business Insider that he’s been selling between 400 and 500 stickers a day in recent weeks — up from a handful in the past. Business Insider has viewed the sales data from his Amazon store.
Some customers have told Hiller the stickers are a substitute for selling their Teslas. “They are either in a spot where they financially can’t sell it and they’re stuck with it, or they can’t sell it because the value has gone down and they won’t get what they want for it,” he said.
Hiller said some sticker buyers regarded Musk’s embrace of right-wing politics as a “huge turn-off,” adding: “The response to the stickers since he’s allied himself with Trump has been unbelievable.”
Referring to some comments left on his Etsy store, he said: “I can see people who are saying, ‘thank you for making this, I can drive my car again and it’s less embarrassing,’ or ‘I’m keeping this on my car until I can sell it’.”
Matthew Hiller/Mad Puffer Stickers
Hiller said one comment even inspired the creation of a new sticker: “Elon Killed My Resale Value.”
A customer with a Tesla Powerwall battery pack also said they bought a sticker to put on their house, he said.
The stickers, which cost between $6.28 and $12.54, have become popular outside the US too, with Hiller getting orders from customers in France, Norway, Japan, Canada, Estonia, Malaysia, and Ireland.
The movement against Tesla has gained traction in recent weeks, with demonstrations outside dozens of Tesla showrooms across the US.
Tesla stock has fallen about a third this year, while sales have been sliding in Europe. The decline has also hit Musk’s net worth, although he remains the world’s richest person.
Hiller, who works in the gift shop of Waikiki Aquarium in Honolulu, was already selling fish stickers through Etsy and Amazon stores called MadPufferStickers, with a puffer fish as his logo.
After Musk bought X in October 2022, Hiller felt that some Tesla owners would not want to be associated with Musk. In January 2023 he started selling a sticker that reads “I Bought This Before We Knew Elon Was Crazy.”
Hiller said he only sells one or two fish stickers a day now.
