The enthusiasm customers have for Tesla comes from several factors. Beyond making a statement about sustainability, Teslas look amazing, and in many ways are far more technologically advanced than anything else on the market, including fancy door handles, app control, massive touchscreen, autopilot, and more. This translates into powerful word-of-mouth marketing. Owners want to be seen in their Tesla, and want to tell their friends about them.

This phenomenon extends well beyond the average customer. These are lots of celebrities who drive a Tesla: Morgan Freeman, Ben Affleck, Cameron Diaz, Matt Damon, Jay Leno, Steven Spielberg, Anthony Bourdain, Stephen Colbert, the list goes on.

Celebrities love showing off their Tesla. This is huge. And even better than Hollywood thinking Tesla is cool, is hip-hop thinking Tesla is cool.

Hip-hop and streetwear culture has been gaining momentum for years and has become the driving force for what’s ‘cool’ in our society. Tesla’s flagship cars have quietly become the go-to music video car and this has massive implications for the company’s brand equity.

To give you a sense of just how deep Tesla has permeated hip-hop culture, here are some of examples. Jaden Smith’s “Icon” music video is shot entirely in front of his Tesla Model X and has already amassed 56M+ views since November 2017. 2 Chainz posts videos of his Tesla driving himself all the time. Random rappers name check Tesla often in their lyrics including Dr. Dre, Young Thug, 2 Chainz, Tyler the Creator, Jaden Smith and Gucci Mane. And, long-established hip hop stars like Snoop Dogg and Jay-Z also drive a Tesla.

Having all of these influencers spread the word about Tesla is so important. Not only are they getting the brand out there and garnering millions of free video and audio impressions, but they’re making Tesla cool.

Beyond rappers, Tesla has gained amazing free exposure in many different areas of pop culture.

For instance, SpaceX’s recent launch of a Tesla Roadster into space drove a huge amount of free press Tesla’s way. According to Google Trends, the event generated the most search traffic for Tesla ever, other than the Model 3 unveiling. And Tesla didn’t pay a cent for this.

Celebrities, rappers and rockets are just a few examples of pop culture doing the heavy lifting for Elon Musk’s electric vehicle empire.

Article originally published on evannex.com by guest blogger Galileo Russell. He is a 25-year-old Tesla shareholder based in New York. He has been blogging about Tesla since 2012, and is the founder of HyperChange TV, a new YouTube channel about tech and finance news for millennials. EVANNEX offers aftermarket accessories, parts, and gear for Tesla owners. The Florida-based company also maintains a daily blog on the latest Tesla news.