@glide Come sit down by the fire and let me tell you a tale...
I placed my order for a Plaid within 15 seconds of the announcement of Battery Day Oct 2020– at the time you could only reserve a Plaid with 4860 cells and structural battery pack called the "Plaid".
Months afterwards was the whole fiasco where they created two models, the "Plaid and a "Plaid+" with the 4860 cells. Original orders automatically became Plaid+ orders and nobody was notified about the new "lesser" Plaid model. Months later the Plaid+ was cancelled and they didn't even know how to handle or convert the Plaid+ orders until after the Plaid deliveries had started. Over this time period the Plaid experienced a number of price increases: base car +$10k, FSD: +$2k, black paint +$1000, and(for me) white interior +$500. I had to fight Tesla to even keep the price I locked in at the time of placing my order.
Long story short: I went to the launch event for the Plaid where the first 25 Plaid orders were delivered, and they came with this badge and a bottle of tequila. Had Tesla not created a new model I would likely have been within the first 25 orders. When I took delivery of my car it came with the "PLAID" script badge which looks, frankly, lame.
TLDR; To answer your question,
I don't feel like I missed out– I feel like I was there at the beginning and Tesla let me down.
Giving owners of Plaid from June 2021-now this badge as a complimentary install seems like a nice gesture and show of good faith for those who have purchased this expensive car.