Over the course of his career, Elon Musk has helped revolutionize online currency with Paypal, freaked out half the greater Los Angeles area with ongoing plans to colonize Mars, and casually added a flamethrower to the list of items his companies sell. Saturday, Musk posted a series of images and videos on his Instagram feed featuring the new product.
Pre-orders for the flamethrower are being taken via boringcompany.com, which bills the product as the “world’s safest flamethrower” and claims it is “guaranteed to liven up any party.”
It’s unclear how a $500 flamethrower fits alongside a Boring Company product line that also includes dad hats and proposed tunnels. And that may at least partially explain why Musk started tweeting jokes about the usefulness of his new product in the event of a zombie apocalypse.
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!?
According to a 2015 CNN report on consumer-level flamethrowers, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms doesn’t regulate the devices because they aren’t technically considered guns. The prospect of not needing an FBI background check to own a flamethrower might not be good news for a country where millions of people voted for a reality show personality to be the President and mass shootings regularly make headlines. That didn’t stop Musk from trying to get at least one joke in.
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.
You can view all of the details on The Boring Company’s $500 flamethrower via their website.
