Tapping into a previously-unknown market for cheap flamethrowers, Elon Musk managed to sell 15,000 “Boring Company Flamethrowers” in less than three days to raise money for another project.
The eccentric entrepreneur and billionaire best-known for an electric car company called “Tesla” announced the sale on Twitter over the weekend.
“Boring Company flamethrower guaranteed to liven up any party!” he said.
Since then, he’s been announcing pre-order sales every few hours, the latest report coming at 8:08am on January 30:
15k
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 30, 2018
The gun itself is probably nothing more than an over-priced roofing torch, not an actual flamethrower. Still, Musk and his sales team have done their best to keep their pitch lighthearted and entertaining.
“Obviously, buying a flamethrower is a super terrible idea. Definitely don’t buy one,” Musk joked on Twitter. “Unless you like fun.”
SEE ALSO: The XM42 Flamethrower-What Freedom Looks Like
He also promised that the flamethrower “works against hordes of the undead or your money back!” and responded to a “rumor” that he’s creating zombies to encourage flamethrower sales:
The rumor that I’m secretly creating a zombie apocalypse to generate demand for flamethrowers is completely false
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 28, 2018
Some people, of course, can’t take a joke. When Musk first announced in December his plans to sell flamethrowers, he got his share of pushback:
Musk also had to allay fears about the legality of his new product:
The proceeds of the sales will support Musk’s “The Boring Company,” an aptly-named organization hoping to relieve traffic congestion by digging tunnels more cheaply and efficiently.
After selling 50,000 hats to help fund the project, The Boring Company has already collected nearly $7.5 million in flamethrower sales.
They’ll begin shipping in the spring.
The old kerosene powered ones that Sears used to sell for clearing ice and snow from the pavement were more powerful.
Not to worry about its legality, because it is. But, if they come in black, it would be banned.
GLUE A WEED BURNER TO A 2X4 CUT IN THE SHAPE OF A RIFLE STOCK, STRAP ON A GAS CANISTER AND A BBQ IGNITER AND SELL YOUR OWN! $1000 EACH! GOD BLESS AMERICA!
Have you been pilfering through my shed again Adam? Lol!
Can you design it so it can be used to melt the snow and ice in my driveway????………..now theres a product that will sell!!
Mel Brooks/Yogurt beat him to the punch by thirty years, in Spaceballs!! Kids love it!!
Duh. What weapon would you invent for colonists after seeing Mars Attacks?
The usual members of Congress have just introduced a bill to ban this thing AND your cigar lighter too, if it has any characteristics of appearance that might be construed as resembling a flame thrower.
Well, he has to find new ways to make money since the government subsidies are drying up.
Are the USA taxpayers heavily subsidizing his flamethrowers like they are his cars?
Yep,he’s pretty good at getting a government handout
Its not a flame thrower its kust a large propane torch
You can legally buy one that is superior than Elon’s ‘Bic on a stick’. The XM42 is a REAL flame thrower that has a 30 ft. range. Most people don’t know that these things have been available for quite a while now mostly with farmer’s and forester’s controlled burns, weed removal, and now for those zombies that just won’t give up. http://xm42.com/
If this is flame thrower than my lighter is a torch! This is nothing more than a piece of crap and waste of money! Like a previous guy said this only good for roofing to heat up tar on specific spots or similar projects BUT FOR SURE NOT ALL A WEAPON! All you’d have to do if he pointed it at you at point blank range is kick him in the balls and now you’d have the so called flame thrower/big lighter since instantly he’d go down. I’ll take my chance with guns that you don’t have to be RIGHT UP ON THEM TO USE IT! WHAT A JOKE! You’d think people wood be curing cancer BUT INSTEAD THEY ARE MAKING THIS CRAP!!!!!!
You framed this nonsense perfectly. This piece of useless junk is nothing but a blinged-out propane torch.
Three cheers for Mr. Musk. I love that he’s politically incorrect enough to do it. I’m sure every lawyer and PR-guy in his company told him not to, and he did it anyway. Next project – build a gun factory. He’s got the money, why not?
Well, he’s probably working the R & D for the weapon factory. Mr. Musk can’t make an ordinary combustion powered weapon. He’s probably working on railguns or lasers or masers or maybe a gravity powered weapon.
If he worked on any weapons system, it’d probably be an electrically powered, directed energy weapon [Laser or high intensity Microwaves] which would leverage all his energy storage and power conversion technologies.