# Elon Musk Life Hacks
Elon Musk Life Hacks is a Russian-language image macro series that pairs photos of DIY contraptions and jury-rigged inventions with the caption 'How do you like this, Elon Musk?'[1]. The format started on Russian Twitter in late 2017 and went international in August 2018 after English-speaking users discovered it[3].
## Overview
Elon Musk Life Hacks, also known by the Russian caption 'Как тебе такое, Илон Маск?' (translated from Russian, 'How do you like this, Elon Musk?'), is a series of image macros showing crude DIY contraptions from the post-Soviet world[3]. Typical entries include a lightbulb chained to a pipe with a bike lock so it cannot be stolen, a man wearing a toilet seat around his neck to hold a beer bottle, and a washing machine converted into a stove[1].
The joke sets Elon Musk's high-profile ventures, Tesla, SpaceX and PayPal, against the shabby cleverness of everyday Russian tinkering[3]. Rather than mocking Musk directly, the meme frames these janky inventions as sarcastic 'answers' to his achievements, as if a guy fixing a zipper with a paper clip were competing with Falcon Heavy[1].
## How It Spread
The format exploded in Russian Twitter on February 6th, 2018, the day SpaceX launched Falcon Heavy and put a Tesla Roadster into orbit[3]. The contrast between the rocket launch and homemade lifehacks drove a wave of new posts, including a February 7th tweet by @fe_city_boy [7] showing a man with a DeLorean under the caption 'What do you think, Elon Musk?'[4].
The meme crossed into English on August 20th, 2018, when Twitter user @andromedamn [6] posted a compilation with the explainer that 'russia has this meme where they @ elon musk in pictures of super stupid bootleggy lifehacky inventions'[1]. That thread pulled in more than 23,000 retweets and 73,000 likes within three days[4].
Mashable covered the trend on August 22nd, 2018, highlighting examples such as a pothole filled with freshly mown grass and a broken zipper repaired with a paper clip[1]. Vice's Motherboard and the Russian meme site Memepedia also documented the format, translating captions like 'Hey Elon, envy the scientific achievements of our country!' for wider audiences[3].
## How to Use
The template typically pairs a photograph of an absurd, unsafe or improvised object, often from Russia or another post-Soviet country, with a rhetorical caption addressed to Elon Musk. Common variants include 'Как тебе такое, Илон Маск?', 'How do you like this, Elon Musk?' and 'What do you think, Elon Musk?'[1]. The caption is often tailored to the object, for example 'Do you feel threatened, Elon Musk?' over a door propped open with a plastic bag[1].
## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is Elon Musk Life Hacks?
It is a Russian-language image macro series showing rough DIY inventions captioned with a rhetorical challenge to Elon Musk, such as 'How do you like this, Elon Musk?'[1]
### Where did Elon Musk Life Hacks come from?
The format started on October 31st, 2017, with a tweet by @StalinGulag about a Novosibirsk particle accelerator being used to smoke herring[3].
### What does Elon Musk Life Hacks mean?
It contrasts Musk's ventures like Tesla and SpaceX with jury-rigged Russian lifehacks, framing the crude inventions as sarcastic replies to his achievements[3].
### How do you use Elon Musk Life Hacks?
People typically post a photo of an absurd DIY contraption and add a caption addressed to Musk, often 'Как тебе такое, Илон Маск?' or the English 'How do you like this, Elon Musk?'[1]
### Is Elon Musk Life Hacks still popular?
The format peaked in 2018 around the Falcon Heavy launch and the @andromedamn English-language thread, and is treated as a classic Russian meme by outlets like Mashable and Memepedia[1][3].
## References
1. [https://mashable.com/2018/08/22/russian-elon-musk-memes-how-do-you-like-this/]()
2. [https://peopletalk.ru/article/10-luchshih-memov-dokazyvayushhih-chto-russkie-izobretatelnee-ilona-maska/]()
3. [https://memepedia.ru/kak-tebe-takoe-ilon-mask/]()
4. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/elon-musk-life-hacks]()
5. [https://twitter.com/StalinGulag]()
6. [https://twitter.com/andromedamn]()
7. [https://twitter.com/fe_city_boy]()
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Source: https://meme.com/memes/elon-musk-life-hacks
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