Elon Musk Flamethrower

2018viral productclassic

The Elon Musk Flamethrower was a $500 handheld device that Musk's tunnel construction firm The Boring Company began selling on January 27th, 2018 as a merch stunt tied to a hat-sales promise. The launch pulled in $4 million in pre-orders within days and was later rebranded 'Not a Flamethrower' after customs issues.

elon musk memesmeme merchandiseconsumer culture memessilicon valley satire memes2018 memes

Overview

The Elon Musk Flamethrower was a $500 handheld device that Musk's tunnel construction firm The Boring Company put up for sale on January 27th, 20182. The product shipped inside a plastic body meant to resemble a rifle, and Reddit users quickly claimed the internals looked like a standard roofing torch dressed up for effect3. Musk marketed the whole thing as a novelty stunt tied to a hat-sales promise the company had made two months earlier1.

The launch was a merch success. Sales cleared past $4 million within two days out of a planned run of 20,000 units1. In June 2018, the item was rebranded as 'Not a Flamethrower' after Musk said customs rules blocked shipments of anything labeled with the actual word3.

How It Spread

According to The Verge, Musk moved 1,000 units in the first three hours after the launch, another 2,000 during the following day, and cleared 7,000 by early January 29th1. The publication tracked the pace as pre-orders pushed past $4 million on a planned 20,000-unit release, and noted that Musk was pitching the device as useful for roasting nuts1.

A promotional video Musk posted, showing him running with the flamethrower in front of a photo of Earth, cleared 2 million views inside 24 hours of upload4. The stunt drew heavy attention across tech media as an example of Musk turning company merchandise into a headline-grabbing product event1.

How to Use This Meme

The Elon Musk Flamethrower was a physical product, not a template. The joke format that grew around it usually involved photoshopping or captioning Musk-style product announcements to name absurd next items on the roadmap, riffing on the roofing-torch-in-a-rifle-body reveal Reddit users flagged at launch3.

Frequently Asked Questions

Elon Musk Flamethrower

2018viral productclassic

The Elon Musk Flamethrower was a $500 handheld device that Musk's tunnel construction firm The Boring Company began selling on January 27th, 2018 as a merch stunt tied to a hat-sales promise. The launch pulled in $4 million in pre-orders within days and was later rebranded 'Not a Flamethrower' after customs issues.

elon musk memes meme merchandise consumer culture memes silicon valley satire memes 2018 memes

Overview

The Elon Musk Flamethrower was a $500 handheld device that Musk's tunnel construction firm The Boring Company put up for sale on January 27th, 20182. The product shipped inside a plastic body meant to resemble a rifle, and Reddit users quickly claimed the internals looked like a standard roofing torch dressed up for effect3. Musk marketed the whole thing as a novelty stunt tied to a hat-sales promise the company had made two months earlier1.

The launch was a merch success. Sales cleared past $4 million within two days out of a planned run of 20,000 units1. In June 2018, the item was rebranded as 'Not a Flamethrower' after Musk said customs rules blocked shipments of anything labeled with the actual word3.

How It Spread

According to The Verge, Musk moved 1,000 units in the first three hours after the launch, another 2,000 during the following day, and cleared 7,000 by early January 29th1. The publication tracked the pace as pre-orders pushed past $4 million on a planned 20,000-unit release, and noted that Musk was pitching the device as useful for roasting nuts1.

A promotional video Musk posted, showing him running with the flamethrower in front of a photo of Earth, cleared 2 million views inside 24 hours of upload4. The stunt drew heavy attention across tech media as an example of Musk turning company merchandise into a headline-grabbing product event1.

How to Use This Meme

The Elon Musk Flamethrower was a physical product, not a template. The joke format that grew around it usually involved photoshopping or captioning Musk-style product announcements to name absurd next items on the roadmap, riffing on the roofing-torch-in-a-rifle-body reveal Reddit users flagged at launch3.

Frequently Asked Questions