Tesla’s new Supercharger station, which opened on July 21, is nothing like your average stop for gas. The station doubles as a Tesla-branded retro-futuristic diner—and it looks like an ’80s sci-fi movie set crashed in the middle of downtown Los Angeles. 

The Tesla Diner, which boasts 80 v4 Supercharger stalls alongside a full menu of greasy finger foods, feels like a jarringly fanciful detour for the brand amidst a year that’s been anything but upbeat. As Elon Musk’s prolonged feud with President Donald Trump rages on, Tesla has suffered a constant rollercoaster of stock price slumps, protests, and poor delivery numbers (overall, the number of cars Tesla delivered in April, May, and June this year was down 13% from the year before). Investors are currently waiting with bated breath for Tesla’s second-quarter earnings report, which is due today.

For Tesla, the new diner has actually been at least seven years in the making (Elon Musk first teased the concept in 2018). And, while it may seem like it came out of the blue, it shows that the branded diner is officially having a moment. Over the past few years, companies across a diverse range of brand categories have turned to the pop-up diner format as a kind of set piece to offer customers an immersive brand experience. Here are a few.

As companies clamor for visibility in an increasingly crowded advertising environment, the “lifestyle brand” has become a buzzword that companies aspire to—and the branded diner can be........

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