According to TMZ, an engineer associated with Musk visited the Escobar’s business compound somewhere around the summer of 2017. During that time Escobar allegedly discussed developing a “toy flamethrower” with the engineer. Apparently no further discussions were held between the two camps, which left Escobar shocked when The Boring Company announced it was developing its own flamethrower in January of 2018. Also per the report: Escobar and company are considering their legal options. We’re not sure what those options could possibly be. It’s a safe bet Musk and The Boring Company did their due diligence when they decided to manufacture and sell a consumer-grade flamethrower. The New York state senate just passed a bill banning it, one imagines the state’s lower courts could have handled the issue if The Boring Company’s paperwork wasn’t properly in order. It bears mention that Musk’s flamethrower, which is actually called “Not A Flamethrower,” sold out of its limited 20,000 unit production run (at $500 a piece) a while back. You can potentially get one on eBay for about twice its retail cost, but otherwise you’re out of luck. Unless you buy an incredibly similar-looking flamethrower from Escobar Inc., of course. As you may have guessed, Escobar is hawking his own device. He also has some advice on its use: And, best of all, the Escobar flamethrower just went on sale for $250, because people who burn money also appreciate bargains. Right? Musk’s responded to the accusations with his usual aloofness:
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 11, 2019 We reached out to Escobar Inc. to see if it had anything to say back to Musk. And we were not disappointed. The company’s CEO, Olof Gustafsson, had some strong thoughts on Elon’s tweet. He told TNW: And Escobar, the company’s founder, had even harsher words for Musk: We’ve reached out to The Boring Company and Tesla for comment and will update this article if we receive a response.
