What won’t nerds buy from Elon Musk? A Tesla shirt? Sure. A SpaceX hoodie? Of course. But would you believe that in just four days, the multi-CEO has now sold $10,000,000 worth of flamethrowers in support of his tunneling venture The Boring Company for $500 a pop? Aside from being bonkers in their own right, these torches—which are strapped to airsoft guns, not flamethrowers—have absolutely nothing to do with the business or process of boring. But it doesn’t matter. Musk has positioned himself as a real-life Tony Stark, and leans into that image hard. How could you not buy a flamethrower from him? He’s the guy shooting a car to Mars while the stereo blasts David Bowie!
However, there is a problem. Some lawmakers apparently take issue with a rogue billionaire’s plans to ship thousands of “temperature enhancement devices” around the world in April. But Musk claims to have found a simple way around any confusions at customs: rename his flamethrower “not a flamethrower.”
Apparently, some customs agencies are saying they won’t allow shipment of anything called a “Flamethrowerâ€. To solve this, we are renaming it “Not a Flamethrowerâ€.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 2, 2018
Customs problem solved! pic.twitter.com/6D0Fbm8NFI
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2018
Customs problem solved. What’s next? A Tesla non-chainsaw? A SpaceX un-spike strip?
Also on the show this week, Dan and I wait for Schrödinger’s rocket, Elon has an official space-ex, and SpaceX can’t even destroy their own rockets right.
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What do you think of this week’s top stories? What else would you like to see us discuss on Muskwatch? Let us know in the comments below!
WHAT ELSE IS ELON MUSK UP TO?
- SpaceX and Uber are teaming up to make flying cars
- This human-controlled robot is like IRL Pacific Rim
- SpaceX wants to make a helpful version of Skynet
