© Archyde.com. “I sell everything” I laughed… Sit down and earn 10 million won, ‘This Goods’ [백수전의 ‘테슬람이 간다’]
A Tesla (NASDAQ:) YouTuber is unboxing a ‘Tesla Surfboard’. Sold in a limited edition of 200 for $1,500 in 2018, the goods sold over $8,000 on eBay. /Photo = DÆrik YouTube “The best scent on earth! Buy ‘Burnt Hair’ perfume and I can buy Twitter.”
Last October, when Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter was imminent. He blew out a series of outrageous nostalgic tweets. It was to promote the perfume ‘Burnt Hair’ released by Boring Company, Musk’s tunnel excavation company. “It was inevitable to enter the perfume business,” he said, referring to the fact that his name is like Musk. 30,000 bottles of this product, priced at $100 (regarding 130,000 won), were sold out within a week. A tweet posted last month by Tesla CEO Elon Musk to promote the ‘Burnt Hair’ perfume launched by Boring Company. /Photo = Elon Musk Twitter Tesla sells various goods besides electric vehicles through its online mall. Goods are everyday items that incorporate brand logos or images of specific people into their designs. The sale of car accessories, clothing, outdoor goods, souvenirs, etc. is an ancillary business that other finished car makers also do. Musk went one step further and incorporated a unique ‘fun code’ into the goods. He showed off his unique playfulness to the fullest, introducing eccentric products that car companies would never sell. Tesla launched ‘Tesla Short Shorts’ on its online mall in 2020. This product, which mocked the short selling force, was sold out as soon as it came out and gained great popularity. ‘Tesla shorts’ ridiculed by short selling Tesla’s most widely known ‘geeky goods’ are shorts. Musk tweeted in 2018 that he sells ‘short shorts’. It was a sarcastic remark to Musk’s lifelong enemy, short selling investors. Billionaire David Einhorn, CEO of Greenlight Capital, was among the targets. The two men had been arguing for years over the short sale of Tesla.
As for the random joke, Einhorn posted an authentication shot saying “Musk sent shorts” and the curiosity is relieved. Musk also attacked Einhorn in 2019, saying, “I express my sympathy for the huge loss caused by the sharp rise in Tesla stock.” Tesla is actually releasing red ‘Tesla Short Shorts’ on its online mall in 2020. This product, which came out at $ 69.42 (regarding 92,000 won), was sold out as soon as it came out and attracted great popularity. Tesla fans even posted proof shots wearing these shorts.
Tesla’s $65 (regarding 86,000 won) ‘Model X-mas Sweater’, which was released as a year-end product earlier this month, was sold out as soon as it came out. It is a pun on Tesla’s large SUV, Model X, and ‘X-mas’, which means Christmas. A classic Musk joke. One Tesla fan tweeted, “If you go out wearing this sweater, there is no problem with ‘Chin Teslam’ certification.” ‘Tesla Tequila’ introduced in 2020 by Tesla. At $250 per bottle, the purchase was limited to two bottles per person, but it was sold out on the day of release. A car company selling alcohol? Driving a car and drinking are at odds. If you think regarding what social condemnation is for drunk driving. Musk has undoubtedly broken these unwritten rules. Tesla introduces ‘Tesla Tequila’ in 2020. It contains the highest grade ‘Anejo’ tequila, which is made through the aging process for at least one year in oak barrels, and puts it out at $250 (regarding 330,000 won) per bottle. Purchases were limited to two bottles per consumer, but were sold out on the day of release. Andrej Karpathy, former director of artificial intelligence (AI), drinks “Tesla Tequila” while watching the “AI Day 2022” event held in September. It is said that he drank 10 cups in a row that night. /Photo = Andrei Karpati Twitter There is a story behind the release of Tesla Tequila. In 2018, Tesla suffered from financial difficulties due to delays in Model 3 production. At the time, foreign media such as the New York Times (NYT) mentioned the possibility of bankruptcy. In response, Musk tweeted a photo of himself lying on a cardboard box while leaning on a Model 3, drinking tequila, with the caption, “Tesla is bankrupt.” This day was April Fool’s Day. This is an actual product of Musk’s April Fool’s Day joke two years ago. It was bound to be a special product for Tesla fans who knew this story. A flamethrower sold by Boring Company in 2018. It uses alcohol as fuel and emits a fire of regarding 30 cm. 20,000 units were sold out within a few days, generating $10 million in sales. Goods that cross the line, flamethrower “If the zombie apocalypse comes, you’d better buy a flamethrower (to fight zombies). Perfect for roasting peanuts”
In 2018, Musk announced on Twitter that he was launching a flamethrower to raise money for The Boring Company. These goods are modeled following the flamethrower from his favorite sci-fi parody movies. According to Tesla, it uses alcohol as fuel and puts out a fire of regarding 30cm. The price is 500 dollars (regarding 660,000 won). 20,000 units sold out in a matter of days. It is like raising $ 10 million (approximately 13.3 billion won) in sales at once. CEO Elon Musk demonstrates the Boring Company’s flamethrower. The short-sleeved T-shirt he wore is also a clothing that Tesla currently sells. /Photo = Elon Musk At the time of Twitter, this flamethrower caused controversy in the world. It is a marketing product that has crossed the line to be laughed off. The media raised safety concerns, including fire hazards. At the time, a member of the state legislature, a former firefighter in California, criticized, “It is absurd to sell a flamethrower in a place that has suffered the worst fire ever.” Musk, who was regarding to go over, saying, “I sell fire extinguishers for $30,” admitted that it was a bad idea to create this product as if conscious of the controversy (Kwon Jong-won 《Theory Musk and the Sustainable Future of Humanity》).
“Tesla goods make money” resale crowds As Tesla limited edition goods became popular, naturally, “resellers” flocked. Once you buy it, put it on a trading site such as eBay for several times more money. It happened because there are so many teslams around the world.
A representative product with a premium is the ‘Tesla Surfboard’, which came out in 2018 for $ 1,500 (regarding 2 million won). This product was created in collaboration with the Tesla design team and surfboard manufacturer ‘Lost Surfboard’. It was a limited edition of 200 pieces, made at the same time as the order. These goods were twice the price of the original Lost Surfboards, but were sold out in one day. Since it was so small, there was a line of questions on Twitter at the time, saying, ‘Is it possible to get a Tesla surfboard?
Since then, a ‘Tesla surfboard’ with several times the premium has been uploaded on eBay. Even now, there is an article that sells a new, unboxed product for $9995 (approximately 13.3 million won). The person who luckily bought these goods earned 10 million won in the living room without having to ‘open run’ or stand in line. An eBay article that sells a new, unopened Tesla surfboard for $9,995. /Photo = eBay Tesla’s $1,900 (approximately 2.53 million won) at the end of last year, the ‘Cyberquad for Kids’, an electric four-wheeled motorcycle (ATV) for children, sold out in just six minutes. Powered by a lithium-ion battery, this bike can travel up to 10 miles per hour (16.1 km) and travel 15 miles (24.1 km) on a single charge. The exterior is inspired by Tesla’s Cybertruck design. Among the goods Tesla introduced, it was the most expensive, excluding vehicle-related goods. It was a popularity that might only be seen because there were resellers.
Since the goods are selling well, the related performance is also good. Tesla’s service and other sales in the last three quarters recorded $ 1.645 billion (approximately 2.19 trillion won). It is a figure that is close to 8% of total sales and is growing steadily every quarter. According to Tesla’s U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing (10-Q), Services and Other segment revenue consists of unwarranted vehicle following-sales service, paid supercharging, used vehicle sales, retail merchandise, and vehicle insurance revenue. Strong fandom and cult culture Musk is often compared to Apple’s Steve Jobs. Every time Jobs announced a new product, Apple (NASDAQ:) fans all over the world went wild. Since Musk joined Tesla in 2004, he has led the electric car revolution and formed a fandom as strong as Jobs. Especially in America, this fandom layer is very thick. Musk and Tesla share a kind of cult culture and humor code (Kwon Jong-won 《Theory Musk and the Sustainable Future of Humanity》). This is why Tesla goods are heavily infused with American jokes.
Tesla, an ‘electric car start-up’ that started in Silicon Valley, was different from other conservative and bureaucratic finished car companies from its inception. Criticism that some people only pursue ‘exciting marketing’ comes from not understanding the freewheeling culture that Musk and his fans share. What kind of bizarre items will be Tesla’s next limited edition goods?
▶ ‘Teslam goes’
We will unravel the story behind Tesla, which will lead the ‘mobility revolution’ in the 2020s. Elon Musk, who is evaluated as the best ‘visionary CEO’, is also a big search target. Introducing news and issues from domestic and foreign Tesla YouTubers and Twitter users. Subscribe to the reporter page below to receive weekly articles.
Reporter Sujeon Baek jerry@hankyung.com
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