Tesla’s newest product is . . . a pair of red shorts.
Yeah, look, compared to the flame throwers of Elon Musk’s other company, Boring, these shorts are rather timid. But the shorts themselves are a sort of in-joke on so many levels—mainly revolving around a specific type of Tesla investor.
Here’s the deal: Elon Musk announced the availability of the shorts yesterday on Twitter. The shorts’ product listing is as follows:
Celebrate summer with Tesla Short Shorts. Run like the wind or entertain like Liberace with our red satin and gold trim design. Relax poolside or lounge indoors year-round with our limited-edition Tesla Short Shorts, featuring our signature Tesla logo in front with “S3XY” across the back. Enjoy exceptional comfort from the closing bell.
So, here are all the in-jokes:
- That “S3XY” across the back of the shorts refers to four different Tesla car models—the Model S, Model 3, Model X, and Model Y.
- The fact that the product is a literal pair of shorts is a dig at short sellers of Tesla’s stock. That is, people who borrow and sell Tesla stock, hoping the price on the stock goes down and thus allowing them to sell and make a profit. Short sellers generally have a problem with Tesla (for varying reasons) and are, obviously, a group Musk has had a long-running beef with.
- The final joke: The price of the shorts are $69.420. The “420” part refers to a couple of things. First, it’s the universal code for pot. And you know Musk and pot. But second, the 420 refers to the price point of the stock at which Musk announced he was considering taking the company private. That tweet got Musk into trouble with the SEC.
But while the shorts are full of jokes, they are, in fact, a real product. You can order them today and the company notes they’ll ship within two to four weeks. However, as of the time of this writing, all sizes are sold out except for XL.
Limited edition short shorts now available at https://t.co/5EmNcTBvJv
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 5, 2020
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