Elon Musk Flamethrower
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About
Elon Musk Flamethrower refers to a $500 flamethrower sold by Elon Musk's tunnel construction business The Boring Company, which placed the incendiary device up for sale on the company website in late January 2018 after successfully selling 50,000 hats.
History
On December 10th, 2017, Musk tweeted that if The Boring Company sold over 50,000 hats, he would "start selling The Boring Company flamethrower" (shown below).[1] Within two months, the tweet gathered upwards of 75,400 likes and 10,500 retweets.
On January 27th, 2018, the flamethrower was placed for sale on The Boring Company[2] website for $500 (shown below).
Videos
On January 28th, Musk posted a short video clip on Instagram of Boring Company employees using the flamethrower (shown below).
Meanwhile, Musk posted a video in which he is shown spraying flames in front of a picture of the Earth before running toward the camera (shown below). Within 24 hours, both videos gathered upwards of 2 million views.
Reception
On January 28th, Redditor Neuroprancers submitted a post accusing musk of selling a "roofing torch" placed inside a plastic rifle body to /r/EnoughMuskSpam.[4] The following day, Redditor Gsonderling submitted an article about the flamethrower to /r/news,[5] where it garnered more than 1,400 points (91% upvoted) and 225 comments in 24 hours. Meanwhile, Redditor IllegalZero submitted a template version of a Musk flamethrower tweet to /r/MemeEconomy,[6] where it gathered upwards of 1,400 points (94% upvoted) within one day.
Sales
On January 29th, the tech new site The Verge[3] reported that over 8,000 flamethrowers, totalling $4 million in sales, had been sold.
Release
On June 9th, Musk tweeted that the name of the product was changed to "Not a Flamethrower" after being informed of "recent regulatory/customs rules" prohibting the transport of objects referred to as "a flamethrower" (shown below). Within 72 hours, the tweet gained over 110,000 likes and 15,000 retweets.[7]
The following day, YouTuber iJustine uploaded an "unboxing video": for the flamethrower (shown below). Within 48 hours, the video accumulated upwards of 233,000 views and 1,400 comments.
On June 11th, Business Insider[9] published an article titled "People are already torching things they shouldn't with Elon Musk's flamethrowers."
Search Interest
External References
[2] The Boring Company – The Boring Company Flamethrower
[3] The Verge – Elon Musk has now sold over $4 million worth of flamethrowers
[4] Reddit – Elon Musk stuffs a roofing torch in a plastic rifle with company name on it
[5] Reddit – Elon Musks Boring Company is now raising money by selling flamethrowers
[6] Reddit – A format for Elon memes
[9] Business Insider – People are already torching things they shouldn't with Elon Musk's flamethrowers
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