Elon Musk and the Boring Company Deliver its First 'Not a Flamethrower' Flamethrowers
The 'Not A Flamethrower' flamethrower made famous by Elon Musk is officially in the hands of customers. The tech billionaire shared pictures of distributing his most popular (and most controversial to date) fundraising technique for the Boring Company today via his Twitter.
First 1000 Boring Company Flamethrowers being picked up today! pic.twitter.com/hBMp5fGzAB
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 9, 2018
In the pictures, hundreds of people lined up to pick up their $500 flamethrowers. And yes, for legal purposes, Musk had to rename his flamethrower to "Not a Flamethrower." Musk and the Boring Company team only offered 20,000 flamethrowers -- all 20,000 of which sold out within four days of being offered on the website.
Nothing makes your baby more zen than a few gentle puffs of a TBC Flamethrower pic.twitter.com/HewJf66hh2
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 9, 2018
The "Not a Flamethrower" devices were the second product-driven fundraiser supporting the Boring Company's cause. The first promotional products were simple Boring Company hats.
While the merchandise certainly helps draw attention to Musk's boring ambitions and the holes he's drilling into Los Angeles streets, they're not how he's subsidizing most of the projects. Last month, Musk announced he'd partnered with 31 investors to raise over $113 million to keep digging around and expanding his hyperloop tunneling system. The announcement was huge for the fledgling company -- even with the "Not a Flamethrower" flamethrower bringing in $10 million alone in sales. And, according to Musk, the flamethrowers are a much more fun option than investments:
Flamethrower obv best way to light your fireplace/BBQ. No more need to use a dainty “match” to ignite! If no wood, just drop your flamethrower in fire place! It will generate way more warmth than a quaint pile of logs.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 9, 2018
The next big push for Musk's unique merchandise ventures: life-sized Lego-like bricks.
New Boring Company merch coming soon. Lifesize LEGO-like interlocking bricks made from tunneling rock that you can use to create sculptures & buildings. Rated for California seismic loads, so super strong, but bored in the middle, like an aircraft wing spar, so not heavy.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 26, 2018
“First kit set will be ancient Egypt — pyramids, Sphinx, temple of Horus, etc” he said.