On a sunny Saturday morning in Santa Monica, a curious scene unfolds in the parking lot of a local CVS. A small group of Tesla owners, coffee in hand, gather beside their gleaming vehicles, exchanging stories, updates, and the latest in electric vehicle news. Overseeing the proceedings is Sue Bankalor, a longtime enthusiast, who, along with her husband Barry, presides over the informal club. The group’s founder, having recently traded his Tesla for a sportscar, still drops by occasionally—proof that the bonds of this community run deeper than car ownership alone.
Yet, for all its camaraderie, there’s an “elephant in the room,” as reported by Slate: the growing stigma surrounding Tesla, fueled by a year of stock volatility, nationwide protests, and the increasingly political persona of Elon Musk. Tesla’s sales have dropped 13.5 percent in the past year, and the company’s association with controversial political figures has only intensified the divide. Still, the devoted remain. These fans, the last ones standing, have not distanced themselves from Musk. Instead, they’ve doubled down, finding new ways to express their loyalty and redefine what it means to be part of the Tesla community.
Enter the hedgehog. Once just a cute animal in children’s stories and internet memes, the hedgehog has been adopted by a subset of Musk’s most fervent supporters as a symbol of resilience and hope. According to Slate and The New York Times, this quirky emblem is now at the heart of a movement that believes a hedgehog can “save” Elon Musk’s reputation—a notion that, at first glance, seems almost too whimsical to be true.
The hedgehog’s appeal is rooted in its dual nature: spiky on the outside, soft underneath. For Musk’s fans, this mirrors the tech mogul’s public persona—tough and controversial, yet, in their eyes, misunderstood and ultimately well-intentioned. Hedgehogs, after all, are often depicted in literature as shy, clever, and resilient. Online, they’re meme royalty, representing cuteness and perseverance. By embracing the hedgehog, Musk’s supporters hope to soften his image, presenting him as both visionary and approachable.
This symbolism has taken on a life of its own in online communities. Platforms like Twitter and Reddit are awash with hedgehog-themed memes and hashtags, as fans rally around their chosen mascot. Memes—images of adorable hedgehogs paired with Musk quotes or Tesla branding—serve as both inside jokes and declarations of loyalty. As The New York Times observes, these playful creations allow fans to engage with Musk’s narrative in a way that’s both lighthearted and deeply committed.
But why do people become so devoted to a figure like Musk? Psychologists point to the power of identity and belonging. For many, being a Musk fan is about more than just cars or rockets; it’s about being part of a community that shares values of innovation, ambition, and resilience. The hedgehog symbol provides a rallying point, a way for fans to connect and support each other—even as outsiders raise eyebrows at their devotion.
Controversy, too, plays a role. Musk’s public life has been marked by high-profile disputes, from tweets that move markets to clashes with regulators. For his fans, the hedgehog is a coping mechanism—a way to turn negativity into positivity, to create a forgiving narrative that stands in contrast to the harsh judgments of critics. As one fan told Slate, “As soon as Elon does something really awesome again, people will forget.”
This blend of humor, loyalty, and optimism was on full display at X Takeover, a two-day convention in San Clemente, California, described as the “Olympics for Tesla fanatics.” There, amid rows of Cybertrucks and Tesla-shaped fireworks, the hedgehog took center stage. The event’s sponsor, a crypto memecoin called HahaYes, features a hedgehog mascot and aims to capture the same cultlike energy that once fueled Dogecoin—a cryptocurrency famously boosted by Musk’s tweets.
Loki, the founder of HahaYes, saw the event as a golden opportunity. “With Doge being Elon’s favorite meme, it used to be the meme darling,” he explained to Slate. “Now it’s politically tainted.” For Loki and his team, HahaYes could be the next big thing, especially if Musk were to endorse it as he did with Dogecoin. Their vision? To create a “symbiotic” relationship between Tesla and their cryptocurrency, uniting fans and perhaps even making Tesla ownership more accessible through crypto gains.
At the HahaYes booth, the hedgehog theme was everywhere: T-shirts, stickers, and even a Cybertruck decked out in hedgehog imagery. Loki himself took the stage in a hedgehog costume, while volunteers handed out miniature hedgehog figurines—a practice they call “rizzing.” The goal, according to volunteer Nick, is to foster a sense of community and fun, linking the Tesla fandom with the playful world of cryptocurrency.
Yet, there’s an irony here. Many of the HahaYes promoters don’t actually own Teslas themselves. When pressed, only Daniel, a booth volunteer, admitted to being a Tesla owner. The rest, it seems, are drawn more by the promise of innovation—and, perhaps, the potential financial windfall—than by allegiance to the brand. As Daniel put it, “The coin is a vehicle that could allow people within the Tesla community to one day be able to afford one of their vehicles.”
Despite the enthusiasm, Musk has not publicly acknowledged HahaYes or its hedgehog mascot. The team remains undeterred, scouring Musk’s tweets for “signs” of interest and maintaining hope that an endorsement is just around the corner. Their website features AI-generated versions of Musk praising the coin, but as Slate notes, “none of it is real.”
At the convention’s climax, Loki presented Musk—who Zoomed in for a Q&A—with a box of letters from fans, each testifying to how Musk had changed their lives. Loki’s speech, delivered in full hedgehog regalia, was heartfelt: “You stopped running your empire to work for the U.S. government, for free. And how were you thanked? You were betrayed.” Musk’s response was polite but noncommittal, leaving the HahaYes faithful to keep waiting for their moment of recognition.
The hedgehog phenomenon, with its blend of earnest fandom and tongue-in-cheek humor, is emblematic of the shifting landscape of celebrity culture in the digital age. As influencers amplify the message and fans rally around shared symbols, the boundaries between support, commerce, and community grow ever blurrier. Whether or not a hedgehog can truly “save” Elon Musk’s reputation remains to be seen—but for now, it’s clear that the power of fandom, and the search for meaning in the chaos of modern celebrity, is alive and well.
In the end, the hedgehog stands as a testament to the creativity, resilience, and sometimes sheer oddity of internet-era fandom—a reminder that in a world hungry for connection, even the most unlikely symbols can bring people together.
