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Elon Musk has dispelled a bizarre rumour about the flamethrowers his company has just put up for sale.
The rumor that I’m secretly creating a zombie apocalypse to generate demand for flamethrowers is completely false
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 28, 2018
“The rumour that I’m secretly creating a zombie apocalypse to generate demand for flamethrowers is completely false,” the Tesla CEO tweeted on Sunday.
“You’d need millions of zombies for a so-called ‘apocalypse’ anyway,” he added, “Where would I even get a factory big enough to make so many!?”
You’d need millions of zombies for a so-called “apocalypse” anyway. Where would I even get a factory big enough to make so many!?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 28, 2018
Another one of the SpaceX founder’s projects, The Boring Company, has just started advertising flamethrowers on its website, after Musk promised last December that would be the firm’s next product.
The $500 (£350) flamethrower is available for pre-order, and should start shipping in spring.
The Boring Company website claims the flamethrower is the “world’s safest” and is “guaranteed to liven up any party!”
In addition, Musk mega-fans can also pre-order The Boring Company’s fire extinguisher, the description on which says it is “overpriced” at $30 (£21).
“You can definitely buy one for less elsewhere, but this one comes with a cool sticker and the button is conveniently riiight above,” the website reads.
Musk posted a video to his 4.8 million Instagram followers showing him running at the camera using the flamethrower, captioned: “Don’t do this. Also, I want to be clear that a flamethrower is a super terrible idea. Definitely don’t buy one. Unless you like fun.”
If you’re wondering whether there’s a market for flamethrowers these days, the boundary-pushing entrepreneur may have just proved that there is.
Just a couple of hours after posting a link to purchase one, Musk tweeted that 1,000 of the 20,000 available had already been pre-ordered.
When one follower said the product “felt illegal”, Musk responded that the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives deemed that “any flamethrower with a flame shorter than 10 ft is A-ok”.
ATF says any flamethrower with a flame shorter than 10 ft is A-ok. Our design is max fun for least danger. I’d be way more scared of a steak knife.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 28, 2018
Musk founded The Boring Company in 2016, with the aim of building tunnels for cars to alleviate traffic issues.
At the end of 2017, the company sold 50,000 black baseball caps bearing the company’s logo for $20 (£14) each.
